Intro To Media
What does it mean to be Media literate?
To look critically at the media so we’re not just swimming in it…but rather we consciously engage with it, view it through a skeptical lens, consider our use of it, and see it for all its positives and negatives.
What device changed the way we interact, making it one of the largest milestones in media history?
The introduction of the iphone
Who came to visit us last week and what is his profession?
Mike Seilski, Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, radio host and author
What separates journalism from other forms of communication such as propaganda, advertising, fiction, or entertainment?
This discipline of verification in all ways possible. Vetting methods: Interviews (both sides), documents, background, context, data, video, audio and more.
Is being impartial or neutral a core principle of journalism?
No. Because the journalist must make decisions, he or she is not and cannot be objective.
The 3 media roles we all play?
Media consumer
Media producer
Media citizen
What were the first forms of media and documenting storytellers, and how did this affect everyday working people?
Oral and Written
• Information passed on by elders, poets, teachers, and tribal storytellers
• First documented and transcribed by philosophers, monks, and court scribes • Working people were generally illiterate
What are two major civic roles tied to News media?
1. To impact change - Reporting in print & TV, music, movies all play a role in influencing our culture and creating change for the better.
2. Inform us - Help us understand events around us so we can make better decisions.
How can journalists make news more relevant and engaging?
Journalists must thus strive to make news interesting and relevant.
- This means journalists must continually ask what information has the most value to citizens and in what form people are most likely to engage with it.
- We can’t wait too long in our writing or stories to explain “Why this matters.” Or why our audience should care.
News has traditionally been the largest source of influence. What have been the News media’s civic roles?
1. To impact change - Reporting in print & TV, music, movies all play a role in influencing our culture and creating change for the better.
2. Inform us - Help us understand events around us so we can make better decisions.
The Twitter campaign brought awareness to the shortfalls of “mainstream media” in covering tragedies? What shortfall did it mention?
This outlasted typical “mainstream” news coverage - which often has a short-term memory, dropping coverage after attention wanes.
What are the drawbacks or negatives of "Fragmentation of media."
More access to media products that suit narrow tastes and interests
• Media experiences that reinforce differences
• Fewer consensus narratives and increased polarization
How did Digital Convergence or how new Technology / Internet disrupted older models of news and entertainment:
How did this affect family culture?
Where did many “social lives” move?
Family traditions, societal culture and behaviors changed. No longer do the majority of families huddle around the TV in the living room. Individuals moved much of their social lives into online communities and platforms. More isolation.
What are the Six Questions of “SKEPTICAL KNOWING AND BEING A CRITICAL CONSUMER OF NEWS”?
1. What kind of content am I encountering?
2. Is the information complete?
3. Who or what are the sources, and why should I believe them? Credibility?
4. What evidence was presented and how was it tested or vetted?
5. What might be an alternative understanding? Another perspective?
6. Am I learning what I need to?
What are the main elements and goals of journalists?
Accuracy & Truth: By verifying facts & vetting sources
Watchdog role: Hold power to account
Skilled enough to write relevant and engaging content
Aim to be representative of all people - give voice to voiceless.
Unbiased & fair: Free of your opinion
Free of influence: You represent citizens/audience - not motivated by $ or profit
Digital Convergence or how new Technology / Internet disrupted older models of news and entertainment:
In all ways, Power shifted from _____ to ______
In all ways, Power shifted from PRODUCERS of media to CONSUMERS
What did young people accomplish after the Parkland School shooting in Florida and what platform did it bring attention to?
Reached millions of people beyond mainstream media
When did the media become more democratized and more accessible to everyday people?
Modern print era emerged with Gutenberg’s printing press, which used movable metallic type
Helped support resistance to authority, increased literacy, and fostered the ideal of individualism
What does it mean to be free of influence as a journalist?
Journalists must maintain an independence from those they cover. It means not being suckered by sources, intimidated by power, or compromised by your own self-interest. They must not take money for stories or do “favors” by writing stories for friends or relatives.
When newsgathering, what kind of objective methods should a journalist use?
1. Seeking out multiple witnesses
2. Disclosing as much as possible about sources
3. Asking various sides for comment What separates journalism from other forms of communication such as propaganda, advertising, fiction, or entertainment?
What is selective exposure and why should we be concerned with it?
People typically seek messages and produce meaning that match their own beliefs, values and interests.
Fewer people are gaining an understanding from all perspectives.
Name 5 social media platforms?
Facebook, twitter, snapchat, TikTok, Instagram
How did Digital Convergence or how new Technology / Internet disrupted older models of news and entertainment with regard to how did news change?
News went online, TV became 24 hours, Channels exploded from 5 or 10 into the 100s.
Why is objectivity so hard to achieve?
Who we are often affects who we interview
We all come in with different backgrounds, which is why we must aim for diversity in staff and colleagues and in sourcing in all ways.
We all come in with different forms of experience, different personalities, different strengths and different limitations….
Name 5 Journalistic Objective Methods
Journalists should be as transparent as possible about sources and methods so audiences can make their own assessment of the information.
Even in a world of expanding voices, “getting it right” is the foundation upon which everything else is built – context, interpretation, comment, criticism, analysis and debate.
Use sources with expertise in stories.
Links to documents, studies and statistical information
Anything that does not come from your own observation MUST be sourced.