Finally the Final!!!

Final Paper
Before I kick this thing off and start answering the final series of question, let me first tell you of my experience in this class. My expectations of this Intro to Journalism class could not have been more wrong. I came into class the first day expecting to receive a syllabus maybe a half a dozen benchmarked articles to write, followed by two midterms and a comprehensive final. The textbook I would never read, even if I did it would quickly put me to sleep, and a month into the semester I will be cursing myself asking why I wasted my money on another unused text book. The articles I would write would consist of some thoughtless mambo jumbo put together at the last second. The midterms would be taken after a two hour cramming session based upon a study guide handed out the week previously. Yep this class, so I thought, would be just as monotonous and any other class I have taken.
I found out quickly this class was going to be much different from others. We are expected to blog our articles, set up twitter accounts, and a netvibes accounts feeding constant rss feeds of our choice. This sounded pretty cool, but pretty scary. I was familiar with blogs, but clueless as to what a twitter, netvives, or rss feeds were, or where to find one. The class was told we are going to utilize “new media” in this journalism class. We were told that this was the first attempt at conducting and 239 class this way. I though it was nice we are trying something different, but on top of my horror of being asked to complete assignments using tools I have never heard of, I didn’t want to be in the guinea pig class. I wanted the comfort of a never used textbook, two midterms and a final.
Despite all of my anxieties the semester went on. With a little extra help I found that setting up a netvibes account was easy and amazing that all my internet interest media was delivered to my personalized page. Twitters turned out to be simple as well; the only hard thing was trying to fit a tweet into 140 characters. Soon as class began the anxieties of being a guinea pig wore off as I became assured that I can keep up with all this “new media” stuff. My blog started to fill up with entries and I was able to see all the latest developments of my classmate’s articles as I was linked directly to their blogs through netvibes. The conversations in class I feel where pertinent and worth wild. The class was able to share ideas, debate, and come to our own conclusions about issues in journalism. Our new ideas about journalism, what it is, who is a journalist, ethics, etc… quickly appeared on the class blogs to be shared and commented on.
I have really enjoyed this class. As a comms minor I will not be pursuing a career in journalism, but will find use for the things I learned in my daily life and news viewing.

What defines objectivity and why is it an element of journalism? What is the place of opinion in journalism? As a journalist can you have your own opinions on the issues of the day, yet continue to practice objective journalism? Why or why not? How do you plan to handle objectivity?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines objectivity as “treating or dealing with facts without distortion by personal feeling or prejudices.” Does objectivity truly exist? My personal opinion is that true objectivity does not exist. I think it is possible for a journalist to write an article or come across as objective, but, in the back of any persons mind is an agenda, belief system, and opinion. So, no, it is impossible to be completely objective. On the other hand, yes, it is possible to be objective in journalism. Our text “The Big Picture” further explains, “when absolute certainty is unobtainable, relative certainty is a value; being pretty sure beats being fairly sure and both beat utter confusion” (Scheuer, 70). Scheuer then goes no to quote Herbert J. Gans who makes a great point, he said, “objectivity is epistemologically impossible because the moment journalist ask question they select from a large number of possible ones” (Scheuer, 70)
This semester we leaned that truth is the first element and obligation of a journalist. The tough part of this argument is how do you define truth? How diluted or muddy can you make truth and still call it truth? In my opinion truth can get pretty darn filthy and still have some redeeming element of truth contained within it which will make it in some way justifiable.
Opinion in journalism has a place in certain kinds of publication and media. I feel that if you are running a news organization such as “The Daily Show”, theunion.com, or the “Colbert Report,” opinion is necessary and needed. These organizations are up front about being saturated with bias opinion, and make no attempt to sell their news as fact. On the other hand a CNN, FOX news, NPR, and other such organizations have no place for opinion as they sell their news as fact. The public looks to these organizations for reliable true factual news. As we have talked in class it is interesting and partly sad that most of the population is turning to these joke news sources like “The Daily Show” for their news. I feel that people think they are unable to trust convention news sources that subtly insert bias into their news. Those who turn to joke reports at least know that the journalism is being completely up front about their mockery of the actual news.
As a journalist I think, though not easy, it is possible to have you own opinion and report objectively. I feel that it is possible to put personal criteria on everything you cover to insure that your journalism appears unbiased and fairly representative of all sides of a story or situation. Some of these criteria may be making sure as journalist you are sure to collect comparable data from each side and as possible not to omit any information from either side of an argument. I feel this becomes most difficult as many media consumers are simply looking for news that is entertaining. The plain facts surrounding reports are typically pretty subdued and honestly boring. Once all opinion is gone the stories almost seem lifeless and mundane.
I feel the best say to handle objectivity in journalism is to be a good story teller, making me as a journalist both objective and entertaining. In class Dr. Cressman told us about what he calls “drive way moments” when listening to NPR and waiting till they are done telling a story about some insignificant potato bug. I think story telling is the key to successful entertaining objective journalism.
How do you define or identify excellence in journalism? Why are such aspects as independence and public vigilance essential? What evidence was present (or missing) in your semester-long examination of a newspaper or television station website?
I define excellence in journalism bye the service and objectivity of the journalism. I fell it is absolutely necessary that journalism serve society by informing the public with accurate and as objective as possible coverage of appropriate material.
Independence and public vigilance is essential to excellence in journalism. It is important for a journalist to stay true to his or her independent state of being while serving the public with respects to their quality and state of being. A liberal journalist wants to stay true to their independent vigilance, however they must fine a way to portray that vigilance in a way that will most effectively inform a wide audience of public with possible a different vigilant outlook.
While following “The Virginia Gazette” I feel that as a small local news paper the gazette had a lot going for it. The independent and public reader vigilance seems to be congruent. The Gazette as a small town paper has journalist that are local folk who walk to the same pace as the rest of the town. Growing up with the paper, the Gazette does not deviate much in its political, personal, or public vigilance.
What is “journalistic truth” and how does it differ from reality or absolute truth? How does it contribute to civic knowledge?
Journalistic truth is the credibility backbone of journalism. Without journalistic truth there will be little to no point to writing anything. In “The Big Picture,” Scheuer mentions that there are levels of journalistic truth. The first level he says is accuracy; he calls this “ground zero, where everything else begins” (Scheuer, 65). Scheuler goes on to explain he next level being facts, “like the law, must aim for the whole truth and nothing but he truth” (Scheuer 67). Being accurate here is not enough but must be followed by facts. Facts that are a human construct and therefore instilled to inaccuracy. This is where a journalist must find ways to put these peaces of fact puzzle together in an appropriate accurate way. Following these steps leads a journalist to becoming as objective as possible.
This journalistic truth contributes to civic knowledge as the basis for the knowledge. When an event happens not many people are there to observe the event. As such it is important for a reporter to tell the story of what happened. The journalists is responsible for accurately, factually, and objectively informing the public of what is going on with any given event.
Why are newspapers failing and television news operations downsizing? What implications might these conditions have for our country and for your career? What type of journalistic job would you have in 5 years from now? 10 years?
The reason television news is downsizing and news papers failing can be summed up in two worlds, New Media. America has become accustomed to getting exactly what they want quickly and effortlessly. Information that is offered though New Media channels is just that. As I explained in my introduction, I have been taught a lot about new media in the past semester. I now have a netvibes account that feeds me really simple syndicated messages from news sites of my choosing. These sites are not just sending me RSS feeds of all of their articles, but are sending me articles that I have specified to cater to my interest of entertainment and business only. No longer does anyone sit and read a hard copy of a newspaper, we now read the paper online. I get my news from AOL before I sign into my email account. I get a tid bit of the news and that is all I want. Things like Craigslist.com have replaced the classified sections of the news papers, and blogs have done away with many of the opinion sections. The news is just simply changing and news stations and papers are unable to adapt.
Implications this new way of doing media has for our country and careers are vast and unknown. New media is making our country more dependent on technology. This dependence is good and bad. We are able to access information faster than ever and be more productive an informed as such. New media is making it possible for more people to share more in a quick effortless manner. Implementations of new media in the job market are going to weed out all those who are not technologically trained. For me and others my age this will be to our advantage. In many ways what is coined “new media” is simply plain “media” to my generation; this is how we do media, online with twitters, pod casts, social networks, etc… I feel that for my career this is an excellent time to step into the market and make a name for myself. With all of this change in the way we do media there is a lot of opportunity.
In 5 years as a journalist I feel that I will have a job reporting it all as a one man crew. I feel that a news website would send me out into the field with a camera, set it up and steam live video of interviews, and coverage all done by me. I think new media is making it possible for one person to do it all. Maybe I could be a freelance reporter sending me feeds live to the highest bidder for my story to be posed on their sites. In 10 years it is hard to say what I would be doing. Maybe managing a web based news station, working in a marketing department finding new ways to advertise on our news site and sell more add space that interrupt our programming.
What personal code of conduct do you plan to live by as a journalist? (For those members of the class, what do you think a journalist’s code of conduct should be?)
My personal code of conduct if I was to be a journalist would be fairly simple. I would strive to be honest, objective, and to focus on serving the public. I feel no matter what complications, moral dilemma, calamity, or hard time arises, resorting back to these three personal code guidelines will solve these problems. It is hard to write a false story when your personal code says you are dedicated to honestly, objectivity, and public service. It is easier to walk away from a job that asks you to do something unethical when you have a presented code of conduct you have promised to follow.

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