Poynter Institute Research Articles

What Does the Growth of Media Unions Mean for the Broader Labor Movement?

What Does the Growth of Media Unions Mean for the Broader Labor Movement?

Organizing is Hot in the Media Industry

“Union leaders at newspapers, digital outlets and broadcast stations are seeing historic levels of organizing that show little sign of stopping,” said a recent report from the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a nonprofit journalism school and research organization. Since 2015, multiple media employers—largely in the digital space—have seen upticks in organizing activity.

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E‐Learning and Lifelong Education of Journalists: Case Study, Poynter Institute

E‐Learning and Lifelong Education of Journalists: Case Study, Poynter Institute

Book Review: The New Ethics of Journalism: Principles for the 21st Century, edited by Kelly McBride and Tom Rosenstiel

The New Ethics of Journalism: Principles for 21st Century. Kelly McBride and Tom Rosenstiel, eds. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2013. 243 pp. $38.00 pbk.Does a new century require new principles? Not necessarily, but nor could one easily resist a revised look at ethics in wake of this particular century's eruptions in economy and technology of how people make, form, and receive news. It hardly will surprise that a fourteen-essay map of journalism's changed moral landscape produced under acute curation of Poynter Institute's Kelly McBride and American Press Institute's Tom Rosenstiel offers both elegant contours and sometimes provoca- tive route-markers.Nor, given still-molten geological state of post-millennial journalism so far, should surprise that resulting map includes a few blank spots-and, to this read- er's mind, odd navigational error.The most elegant thinking is offered in opening two chapters, which jointly address a timeless yet currently compelling question facing every journalist (among others): What is truth? Twitterite orthodoxy has, to date, shed upon this point mostly meme that facts are whatever crowd eventually determines to be factual, an epistemological soup that is neither meatless nor especially nutritious. But Clay Shirky and Roy Peter Clark, variously at odds and in sync, offer far more nuanced ideas on meaning and attainability of accuracy.Here is how Shirky, for example, puts post-postmodern conundrum of truth-seek- ing in an ubiquitous, boundary-agnostic universe of opinions as to what constitute facts:Seeking truth and reporting it is becoming less about finding consensus, which has become rarer, and more about publicly sorting relevant actors from irrelevant ones. . . . In this environment, journalists have to get more practiced at sorting . . . legitimate from illegitimate opinions. In an even more significant rupture from their past, they have to get practiced at explaining to their readers why they are making choices they are making.The latter point makes more compelling editors' most prominent-and most controversial-suggestion that transparency is no longer merely an essential strategy for attaining credibility and accountability (as is, by now, almost universally accepted). Rather, is one of just three ethical principles for journalism. The other two moral pillars are, according to editors, more preeminent (and familiar) pursuit of truths, or rather, as is wisely argued, truths, and highly fashionable (and, yes, unar- guable) idea of engagement with communities.This elevated position for transparency, though certainly debatable, should not be oversimplified. McBride and Rosenstiel do not present as a cure-all, a low-bar uber-ethic:In fact, true transparency is more than disclosure. It also requires producing news in ways that can be explained and even defended. It becomes key to a Transparency requires those who produce news to anticipate how they will explain their actions before they act.Not merely one of ethical journalism's three moral pillars, then, but the key to a method. Yet, lack of methodological development of this vision of transparency is book's most striking gap. McBride and Rosenstiel rightly state that today's pub- lic demands to know how alleged facts have been sourced, chosen, and verified; what biases have been controlled for, and how so; and how news organizations themselves are comprised, supported, and operated. The editors then assert thatMost news organizations fall short every day answering these questions. We have yet to develop best practices for transparency on this level. …

A Truly Bold Idea for U.S. J&MC Education

On June 4 this year, Howard Finberg of Poynter Institute gave a speech called The Future of Journalism Education at European Journalism Centre's twentieth anniversary celebration in Maastricht, Netherlands, in which he presented results of a survey of journalists and journalism professors about value of a journalism degree, among other things.Finberg said he had surveyed more than 1,975 persons, with 42 percent being academics, 34 percent from media organizations, 11 percent freelancers/independents, and 13 percent students. Highlights, as he recounted them, were as follows:When asked about vital a journalism DEGREE is in understanding value of journalism, 95% of academics said it was to extremely Slightly more than half, 56% of professionals said very to extremely important. is a gap of almost 40 points.When questioned about value of a DEGREE when it came to equipping students with skills or abilities in news gathering, editing and presenting news, gap is as wide: *96% of academics said that a degree was very to extremely important to learning skills. *59% of professionals said very to extremely important.Also,Half of professionals said journalism education is not keeping up with industry changes. That isn't shocking, as there has always been a feeling in professional news ranks that academy isn't aware of what's going on in real However, about a third of academics who responded also agreed that journalism education isn't keeping up. At Poynter hear from scores of teachers who are frustrated with situation-the lack of support to change what is being taught and their lack of skills to equip students for today's media world. Still, that leaves me wondering about remaining two-thirds who believe that academy is keeping up with changes in industry. Frankly, I'm not sure media industry is keeping up.Later in speech, Finberg added these figures: *54% of academics say a journalism degree is very to extremely important when it comes to getting hired. *Only 38% of professionals say same, with only 33% of senior managers agreeing that a degree is very to extremely important when it comes to getting a job.How does Finberg respond? He likes Eric Newton's (president's senior advisor, Knight Foundation) suggestions for journalism education:1. Innovate. Create both new uses of software and new software itself. 2. Teach open, collaborative methods. No longer must students be lone wolf reporters or cogs in a company wheel. 3. Connect to whole university. can mean team-teaching a science journalism class with actual scientists. 4. Expand their role as community content providers. University hospitals save lives. University law clinics take cases to Supreme Court. University news labs can reveal truths that help us right wrongs.But Finberg also suggests that Newton's ideas aren't being bold enough. Finberg then spent rest of his speech bragging about Poynter's News University, encouraging journalism schools to offer a lot of News University-type online courses, saying that maybe a journalism degree isn't endgame (after earlier having said I do NOT suggest that this survey says that a degree is unimportant), suggesting that journalism and mass communication (J&MC) programs do practical research, not academic exploration, and pushing a combination of student work portfolios that go way beyond just traditional clips or tapes and digital badges that represent skills or other competences of students in addition to uber-portfolio and course transcript.Finberg packed quite a bit into this Maastricht speech, and it requires more than a little bit of unpacking, which will do here without defending status quo. (Finberg says, This is not time to say 'we have always done it that way.' is time to disrupt everything, and cites Newton for referring to the 'symphony of slowness' to change at journalism schools that hurts both students and society [all but symphony of slowness are Finberg's words]. …

Book Review: The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English

Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to Magic and Mystery of Practical English. Roy Peter Clark. New York: Little, Brown, 2010. 294 pp. $19.99 hbk.It doesn't matter what topic is-chickens or global economics or yoga: people who are passionate and knowledgeable about their subject make for a good story. Add good writing and a sense of whimsy to that passion, and you almost can't miss.With fifteen books on writing and editing behind him, Roy Peter Clark's passion for writing is well known. For those who don't know him personally, however, title of this book should hint at whimsy. There really aren't many people who can make a 294-page discussion of fun, mysterious, and magical, but Poynter Institute's longtime oracle of all things wordish does it by reminding us of power and magic of language.Putting glamour back into is Clark's goal. Wordsmiths already know joy of language (as Clark discusses in his first chapter, reading dictionaries is fun), but not everyone may recognize etymological connection between grammar and glamour.Was there ever in popular imagination a word less glamourous than grammar? Clark asks, turning to Oxford English Dictionary for explanation: The bridge between glamour and is he finds. According to OED, glamour evolved from through an ancient association between learning and enchantment. Once, was not just about language and, eventually, writing, he says, but all forms of learning, including magic, alchemy, astrology, even witchcraft.Good enough. It's not about rules, then. Let's consider incantation to invoke magic of language, and see that punctuation, syntax, usage, spacing, pacing, and rest all are ingredients to make magic work.The central ingredients, of course, are words, but Clark urges writers not to bog down in rigid convention. Sure, spelling counts because comprehension matters, but learn seven ways to invent words to make use of their music, he suggests; crossdress parts of speech, and spend some time in a thesaurus-a word from Greek that means 'treasury.'Clark's passion for his craftalso turns even smallest elements of language into powerful alchemy-he spends a fifty-page chapter on Points, traffic signals of sentences that Clark calls the ligaments of meaning and purpose. man can wax poetic-and convincingly-about periods! full stop is a rhythmic device in language and in writing, after all, reminding us that writing is language, after all-an aural art that must be heard like music in order to be understood and appreciated. Short sentences, Clark suggests. Slow reader. Build suspense. Magnify emotion.Of many disconnects between too-often estranged wordsters in English classrooms and journalistic newsrooms, perhaps none is as focused as use of comma. Leave aside dependent clauses and wasteful strings of modifiers (the road to hell is paved with adverbs)-what about a comma before and? …

Poynter's NewsU Delivers What You Expect, Your Own Institution Perhaps Not

No one doubts that the Poynter Institute is eminently qualified to be designing online courses, if anyone is. Indeed, some discussion about Poynter's NewsU programs has been along the lines of why a university would NOT want to partner with Poynter Institute when its faculty generally are more professionally qualified than many adjuncts are and might have journalistic credentials outshining anyone's in most JMC programs' full-time faculty. Poynter's faculty includes four administrators who have taught; fifteen regular faculty; five adjunct faculty; six affiliate faculty; ten fellows and other professionals (including persons such as Missouri professor Jacqui Banaszynski); and various visiting faculty members at any given point. Board of Trustees and National Advisory Board also include a few current or former j-school deans and professors. experienced Poynter Institute has developed more than seventy self-directed education modules, the most popular of which, in order, are: Cleaning Your Copy: Grammar, Style and More; The Be a Reporter Game; The Interview; The Lead Lab; Sense: Building Blocks of News; Language of the Image; The Writer's Workbench: 50 Tools You Can Use; Get Me Rewrite: Craft of Revision; Five Steps to Multimedia and Math for Journalists: Help with Numbers. (Fortunately, Typography for News Design is the fourteenth-most-popular so perhaps Americans will finally see fewer ugly publications and websites!) Second, online education is something of a big question mark in terms of effectiveness. For every study that says that online education is as effective, or more effective, than in-classroom delivery, there's another one that says otherwise. Let's for the moment assume that either the evidence is inconclusive, or at least that online courses' effectiveness vary by course type, course level, subject matter, and/or design of specific instances of in-classroom and online versions. (Poynter brags that, across seventeen quarterly evaluations, 61% of users were helpful to extremely helpful in getting better on the job/in class, while 72% said would recommend NewsU to colleague. I don't know about you, but I don't find that 61% figure to be very impressive about a free, self-directed program, and while 82% of users said they are likely to take another module, only 47% actually have taken two or more.) Third, in case you missed the AEJMC convention session (August 11, 2011) by Howard Finberg, Poynter Institute; Mark Biggs, Missouri State University; Susan Reilly, Florida Atlantic University; and Tony Fellow, California State UniversityFullerton, allow me to summarize it and thus what JlOl is all about. Finberg has said that the background in launching JlOl was leverage self-directed modules while adding online group seminars and a Webinar experience; to with schools; and execute JlOl keeping in mind that it intersects with [the interests of the] Carnegie Corp., which gave the Poynter Institute a pilot program grant to fund JlOl with a few schools. Finberg also stated three JlOl goals: unique educational experience via leveraging the expertise of Poynter, closer relationships with [and] building upon our successful e-learning modules; work more closely with universities, and create lifelong learners, including to increase the understanding of the role of journalism no matter what students choose as their profession. Hence, Poynter is savily working on the correct assumption that not all JMC majors pursue a career in the JMC professions/industries, let alone itself, and is implying that JlOl-like courses may play a role in a larger media literacy mission for universities. standard syllabus as outlined by Finberg consists of Week 1: Introduction; Week 2: What is News?; Week 3: Intro to Reporting; Week 4: Interviewing; Week 5: Story Forms & Shapes; Week 6: Alternative Story Forms; Week 7: Dealing with Diversity; Week 8: Reporting & Writing; Week 9: Introduction to Style; Week 10: Rewriting Yourself; Week 11: Libel, Slander, Privacy; Week 12: News-Gathering Legality (though for CaI State-Fullerton, Week 12 was devoted to Press Releases Info, presumably because students were getting media law in another course, perhaps simultaneously); Week 13: Ethical Decision Making: Week 14: Multimedia Storytelling; Week 15: Business of Journalism; and Week 16: Wrap Up/What's Next. …

American Newspapers Vary by Region on How They Frame Sex in News Stories

For decades, scholars have provided a font of research into the sexual content of the mass media. Many analyses have focused on television, perhaps because of its sheer pervasiveness in most people's lives around the world. More recent scholarship has taken up the sexual content of the Internet, including celebrity fan sites.1And then there is the modern American newspaper. While its print cousin, the magazine, has been the subject of numerous content analyses on sex, the mainstream American newspaper virtually is a non-player. This study aims to provide a portrait of how the American newspaper frames sex in an era of unfettered restraint perhaps unique in the history of the country's mass media. Sex, as Streitmatter2 exclaims in Sex Sells! The Media's Journey from Repression to Obsession, is everywhere. This study analyzes the content of eight newspapers-one large and one small/medium newspaper in four regions of the country. Given such content analyses are few, and that none apparently has looked at the broad range of sexual content in papers throughout the country, this study aims to provide a benchmark for further research.As may be evident in a glance of any newspaper on any given day, newspapers often provide minimal breadth and context on sex. An informal analysis by a Poynter Institute (journalism school) faculty member preparing a conference on sex coverage in 2005 also revealed the vast majority of stories that appeared in seven medium-sized daily newspapers over 10 days were about entertainment and crime, at 54 percent and 31 percent respectively.3This study assesses whether those two frames-entertainment and crime-hold up under scrutiny.Literature ReviewResearch available on press coverage of sex, defined here as close physical intimacy between people regardless of gender, spans a diverse range of topics.One historiography, for instance, looked at sex reporting, particularly advice columns, in popular magazines and radio broadcasts in the mid-20th century during the creation of sexeducation programs in public schools.4 A 1998 content analysis, meanwhile, examined contemporary coverage of non-HIV sexually transmitted diseases in major U.S. newspapers, finding a lack of substantive reporting on STDs in print media.5 Among books, Streitmatter's Sex Sells! provides a relatively comprehensive look at the increasingly sexualized content of all media over the past 50 years.Some historians and sociologists argue the increase is of a certain quality, typically placing a primacy on coitus as the outlet for desire, revealing an unconscious acceptance of heterosexuality as the center of the erotic.6 Scholars who have examined female sexuality and the sexuality of children and adolescents, in particular, suggest they are misunderstood, or problematic, denied or held in check.7 As such, depictions in the press of women and children as perpetual victims of sexual violence by male villains can be seen as a sexist dichotomy that keeps women and children in their place as the objects of men's domination.Framing Theory and its ApplicationsExplications of framing as a paradigm, theory, model, concept and method abound in scholarship.8 Many macro-social factors influence journalistic frames, Zhang points out, suggesting, Framing is a process of how ... journalists construct messages under organizational guidelines and professional values and how audience members interpret ... those media messages.9Hypothesis and Research QuestionsAn important aspect of this definition is its emphasis on audience interpretation, because not all framing analyses consider it. This sex content analysis will examine frames alone. In light of potential distortions highlighted in this literature review, a hypothesis and several research questions emerge.This content analysis predicts the following hypothesis in light of The Poynter Institute's informal analysis of 2005 sex coverage mentioned earlier:H1:Most sex coverage in all newspapers in this study generally will be framed as criminal, as in the subject of sexual-assault stories, or as entertainment, as in the subject of celebrity sex lives or characters in TV, films and books. …

Diversity awareness and the role of language in cultural representations in news stories

Behind news stories are reporting, writing, and editing actions and decisions that constitute everyday practice within the news profession. As part of this, journalists are conscious of providing relevant coverage of the communities in which they work. A consequence is that news discourse reflects both profession-internal and societal values. To illustrate the relation of news reporting to values in the larger culture, I examine an aspect of US news coverage that is actively discussed within the profession: reporting on “diversity,” described as “issues of class, race, ethnicity, culture, abilities and sexual orientation” (Poynter Institute). Beyond prohibitions against pejorative labels, the role of language and its indexing of social identity is seldom included in diversity awareness discussions, despite its function in that regard. I argue that this is because of the monolingual language ideology that suffuses mainstream America and the absence of specialist linguistic insight that might provide a counter-perspective. Ethnolinguistic examination of profession-internal discourse concerning the industry's self-identified diversity reporting gaps can also lead to a more nuanced understanding of news practice, while looking at journalists’ outputs in topic-neutral contexts illustrates the larger sociocultural attitudes that the news community reflects when it engages in reporting about “diversity.”

Wilde’s Evenings: The Rewards of Citizen Journalism

Wilde’s Evenings: The Rewards of Citizen Journalism

Beyound Prophecies: A critique of "news news' retrospective: is online news reaching its potential?"

From April 27 to 29, 1995, the Poynter Institute organized a seminar with specialists in the fi eld to discuss the future of digital journalism. After a decade had passed since that seminar, Professor Nora Paul wrote an article for the Online Journalism Review in which she commented on the predictions made when digital journalism was barely starting to try out production models adapted to the world of the networks. In this joint article by members of the Online Journalism Research Group (GJOL)1, we intend to establish a dialogue with Professor Paul’s text, contributing new elements to the analysis of this phenomenon that, from our viewpoint, should be considered as a complex of continuities, ruptures and potentialities with respect to the conventional model of journalistic practice. Our text is especially centered on three topics that merit comments and criticism in Paul’s text: 1) the absence of an explicit methodological reference; 2) the biased evaluation centered only on part of the American production; 3) the very limited approach in dealing with the peculiarities of the new practice.

NRJ Book Review: The Values and Craft of American Journalism: Essays from the Poynter Institute

The Values and Craft of American Journalism: Essays from The Poynter Institute, edited by Roy Peter Clark and Cole C. Campbell (Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Florida, 2005) 202 pages, $24.95.If there ever was a time when journalists need direction, it is now.The Values Craft of American Journalism: Essays from The Poynter Institute provides that direction with a series of essays on important topics journalists: purpose and culture, leadership, community and craft. The book is a re-release in paperback of a 2002 hardback edition by Roy Peter Clark and Cole C. Campbell with an afterword added.The issues facing journalists addressed in the 2002 original publication show no signs of easing and are arguably even more complex. As journalists struggle cover the news and honor their commitment their craft, they are surrounded by external pressures brought on by an industry in crisis. Many journalists turn Poynter frequently for guidance and answers troubling situations. Clark and Campbell offer short writings in this book designed help journalists and educators bridge the gap that often divides them and, as stated in the afterword, inspire journalists strive for new levels of excellence during difficult times.The first group of essays is about purpose and culture. Of particular note educators is the first essay by G. Stuart Adam on the definition of journalism. Adam seeks qualify what journalists really do and how journalism is taught, concluding that, It is time start at the beginning, incorporate an understanding of the creative process more fully into the study of journalism, and equip students with more appropriate capacities of execution and judgment.Clark describes the characteristics of journalism, or what he calls the of journalism, in an attempt determine how teach it more effectively. His characteristics are familiar all journalism educators, but his suggestions about how more effectively teach the language of journalism are worth considering as we struggle today make journalism more relevant society.Addressing the larger role of journalism-reporting the stuff that ma tiers in the broader context of today's society-is the subject of Campbell's essay. He makes the case for the importance of this approach news writing with strong arguments for journalism that goes beyond printing news helping people make sense of their lives and their times. Campbell concludes, that to do that, we must hone our minds and our methods in order probe deeper. His suggestions of ways do that are worth considering.The second group of essays, on media leadership, is perhaps even more relevant today-given recent changes in media ownership-than when the book originally was published in 2002. Clark accurately characterizes current media trends. But he offers hope for the future of an industry in turmoil with a blueprint for leadership. He includes bulleted suggestions for improving community ties, sharing power, embracing change and inspiring a new generation of journalists as ways strengthen the profession and better serve communities. His last point, deserve the First Amendment, should be the mantra all journalists live by.Understanding what makes a good leader and why some succeed and others fail is a topic of interest across society today, but the inherent conflicts between business and journalism make our industry unique and present special challenges leaders in newsrooms. …

Plagiarism Persists in News despite Changing Attitudes

Well into the 1990s, it was common for reporters and editors to copy one another. Today, plagiarism is almost universally condemned, yet eliminating all plagiarism may be impossible.

An Examination of Diversity Issues in SE Journalism College Newspapers

Diversity issues in college journalism curricula reflect concerns of professional newsrooms that college faculty prepare next generation of journalists for working in a multicultural world and a multicultural newsroom. This paper examines college newspapers through mirror of diversity statements, ethics codes and staffing. Campus newspapers were selected because a campus newspaper is frequently first place journalism students have to practice their craft under exposure of a large community.The issue is timely as college admission practices founded on concept of encouraging campus diversity face national scrutiny.1 In addition, Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications requires programs undergoing accreditation review to demonstrate a commitment to diversity.The topic is not limited to academia. Professional news organizations are tackling diversity issues through public commitments to have newsrooms reflect communities they cover and through adoption of newsroom guidelines that provide employees with strategies on how to diversify coverage, including hiring of a diversified staff.Keith Woods, director of diversity programs at Poynter Institute for Media Studies, contends that a commitment to diversity should accompany core journalism values of fairness, balance, objectivity and accuracy:A multitude of factors-as base as prejudice and as complex as societal structure-conspire to keep many people and their opinions out of news. It's our job to make sure we include them.2Literature ReviewProfessional media organizations have not ignored diversity even though, as Lehrman noted:The analyses of news finds over and over that certain groups get left out. Journalists repeatedly make error ofportraying America as primarily white and middle class when obviously that is not so.3The issue is at least a half century old. In 1947 The Freedom of Report, A Free and Responsible Press called for: the projection of a representative picture of constituent groups in society.4 Almost two decades later, Kerner Commission report, which was put together by President Lyndon Johnson's administration to examine civil unrest of mid-1960s, said because news media failed to report adequately on race relations and ghetto problems5 news was almost totally white, both in appearance and attitude.6Newsrooms are not only places lacking a firm grasp on meaning of diversity. Levine found that in university community, Few had any agreed upon definitions(s) of diversity or any explicit goals to help achieve diversity.7 Journalism students tend to define diversity in terms of race8 while others expand definition to include gender, religion, ethnic background and disability.9Little has been written specifically about college newspaper guidelines for covering diverse groups or for increasing diversity representation in newsroom. In contrast, Lederman and Shea found college newspapers are often criticized for poor coverage of minority groups, and few college newspaper editors are members of minority groups.10 Yet when it comes to diversity staffing, college newspapers appear to be doing a lot better than are commercial dailies.11With population of colleges and universities becoming more ethnically, racially, culturally and economically diverse, college newspapers not only protect their credibility by being diverse, but also serve as role models and public conscience for student body.12These views are similar to those found by Pease, who reported that news coverage is fairer and more substantive if there is strong agreement in newsroom about importance of racial diversity.13 Pease also showed that there is a persuasive connection between quality journalism and dedication to diversity. He noted too that greater attention to staff development and communication of management objectives on diversity is necessary to broaden diversity in newsrooms. …

Straight/Narrative? Writing Style Changes Readers' Perceptions of Story Quality

Few studies have empirically examined whether narratives work or whether the straight-news approach is unappealing to readers as has been suggested.1 This exploratory study examined these issues, and it also investigated whether the subject matter of a story, separate from writing style, had an effect on reader assessment of story traits and whether writing style influenced readers' assessment of the importance of the news subject (also known as salience). Research questions for this study follow:Research QuestionsRQ1:Is writing style related to readers' assessments of a story in terms of its interestingness, informativeness, dullness and other story characteristics?RQ 2:Is story subject matter related to readers' assessments of story characteristics?BackgroundA basic component of any journalism curriculum is instruction in news writing. News-writing textbooks and other aids typically begin by emphasizing a straight-news approach then encourage students to move beyond the inverted toward narrative techniques that help the reader see the story and/or understand complex issues-especially in nondeadline stories.2 However, not everyone agrees that the narrative style is always advantageous. Haas, for example, has written that the narrative could make it difficult for readers to understand the significance of the news.3At the same time, supporters of the narrative approach to news emphasize the basics-who, what, when, where, why and how-and encourage journalists to think of them in terms of story line and character.4Story style is not only the concern of educators and journalists, but also of newspaper managers, who seek to maintain and increase circulation levels. Johnson of the Poynter Institute's leadership and management faculty argued that the inverted pyramid is off-putting to most readers while a 'feature-style' approach to all types of news ... has special appeal to many at-risk readers, particularly younger people and women.5Studies of writing style have produced mixed results. Bostian tested the readability of two science news stories written in three styles on 266 college students.6 The participants in this study read active passages more quickly and judged those passages more interesting than both the passive and nominal passages. Chartprasert found that subjects rated authors who used a bureaucratic writing style as more intelligent, educated and expert than authors who used simple style.7 In a study of the use of imagery in writing, Tankard and Hendrickson found that show sentences were not seen as more credible, contrary to those who argue that a straight-news style of writing is less persuasive.8Studies from a range of perspectives have considered the effect of particular story characteristics on reader estimation of issue salience. Gibson and Zillman found support for their hypothesis that quotes could make an issue seem to be more salient and/or compelling for the consumer of a news report and sway a reader's or listener's perception and judgment of an issue.9OverviewStories about crime and the environment served as the independent variables in the experiment. These two subjects were used to check for the possibility that participants might react to the story's subject matter, rather than to its writing style. The topics were also selected because they focus on societal risks, which made it possible to draw from the literature in creating an instrument that served to explore the impact of story style on salience.MethodStories were drawn from actual news accounts and then treated to create one straight-news and one narrative version of both a crime story and an environmental story. The stories were typeset to appear identical. Neither version of the stories included direct quotations or headlines in order to eliminate possible confounding variables.10Participants were 117undergraduates enrolled in two introductory communication courses at a large midwestern university. …

Students as Citizens: Experiential Approaches to Reflective Thinking on Community Journalism

Contemporary journalism is at a crossroads. Since the final decade of the twentieth century, the profession's traditionally revered claims to independence, autonomy, and detached objectivity, as well as journalists' avowed role in democracy as watchdogs, have all been returned to the discursive arena as unfinished business. The controversy generated by the views of scholars and practitioners on various sides of the discourse often borders on a postmodern Derridian deconstruction of our received understanding of journalism.1 The journalism profession is not a stranger to change and controversy. Historically, journalism has not only contributed to, but has also responded and adapted to cultural, political, economic, and technological changes in society. However, the current wave of controversy challenges conventional definitions of the roles and approaches of the profession in democracy.2 Ripples generated by this controversy have been felt in newsrooms, classrooms, and academic conventions, and have forced professionals and scholars alike to revisit the erstwhile taken-for-granted philosophical foundations and practices of the profession. The emergence of the civic journalism movement in the late 1980s has polarized the debate between its advocates and its critics who believe in the efficacy and desirability of maintaining the principles and practices of journalism even in this era of societal change. In 1996, Robert Steele, an ethicist at the Poynter Institute For Media Studios eloquently distilled the ongoing controversy in the following questions : reporters be investigators of system failure or initiators of solutions? Should journalists be detached observers or activist participants? Should newspapers be independent watchdogs or conveners of forums?3 Answers to these questions delineate the major argument families in this controversy. In the midst of this polarized argument, a third position, a half-step approach has started to emerge and receive attention. Massey and Haas4 in a critical review of forty-seven evaluative studies on journalism opined that it appears that elements of and journalism co-exist within many newsrooms and individual journalists. According to their study, ...this suggests a kind of occupational pragmatism that could compel journalists to produce news content by whichever set of newswork practices they believe would work best in a given situation, public and traditional labels aside. Indeed, Richard Aregood, editorial page editor of The Philadelphia Daily News, although a vocal critic of the new journalism, claims that the journalism crusade is only what good newspapers have always been doing.5 Several studies have corroborated this third position. For instance, John Bare's study of journalists' belief systems at three journalism and non journalism newspapers found that some journalism values were widely held in all three papers.6 In the same vein, Gade et al7 also found that journalists tended to mix libertarian values with ideas of social responsibility associated with journalism. Voakes8 equally found some support for practices associated with journalism, especially among journalists working on smaller papers. In general, these researchers have come to the conclusion that reporters were prepared to experiment with innovative journalistic approaches especially when the ideas were not presented as part of journalism. As the debate among scholars and professionals rages on how the profession could best define its functions and role in this time of societal flux, educators have also started to experiment with innovative instructional models and curricula to explicate this complex situation to their journalism students. This paper presents one such experimental instructional model for introducing journalism students to the advantages and disadvantages of and civic journalism approaches so that they can make up their own minds about the controversy. …

Computer-Assisted Reporting in Classrooms: A Decade of Diffusion and a Comparison to Newsrooms

A decade ago, DeFleur and Davenport compared computerassisted reporting in newsrooms and classrooms and concluded that journalism faculties seemed content to follow in the footsteps of a more innovating industry - the newspaper industry.1 The pattern by which an innovation (such as a new technology, idea or practice) spreads through a social system has been welldocumented and follows a classic Sshaped curve of adoption over time. Five distinct categories of adopters and also the approximate percentage of individuals included in each category have been described, based on the degree of their innovativeness (innovators, adopters, majority, and laggards). These classifications can be used to understand the process by which computer-assisted journalism has become part of newsroom practice and classroom instruction.2 In the 1990s, newsrooms were in the late majority stage of implementing some computer-assisted reporting techniques such as online database searching and in the early majority stage of implementing the analysis of government records. Meanwhile, classrooms were in the innovator stage of working with public records and in the early adopter phase of using online sources. The academic adoption curve represented a clear case of innovation lag in comparison to newsroom usage.' Some of the problems impeding the adoption of computer-assisted reporting in the classroom were lack of finances, equipment, instructors and interest. Indeed, 70% of journalism program directors across the country indicated they had no plans to offer online searching skills, while 62% did not plan to offer instruction on analyzing government records.4 In the intervening years, interest in computer-assisted reporting has grown. Journalists using computerassisted reporting have won numerous Pulitzer Prizes; several Web sites and listservs with hundreds of members are devoted to the discussion of computerassisted reporting; and groups such as the National Institute for ComputerAssisted Reporting (NICAR), Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), The Freedom Forum and the Poynter Institute offer annual seminars on computer-assisted reporting for reporters and faculty. Indeed, professional organizations such as the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) have advanced considerably the professional development of their members since the mid-1980s when John Mollwitz suggested and headed SPJ's first Technology Task Force and administered its first forum (in JFORUM) on CompuServe, and Davenport and Don Wallbaum developed AEJMC's first forum, AEJMC-FORUM, also on CompuServe.5 In addition to an increasing interest in computers, the economy grew throughout the 1990s. Almost every newsroom in the country installed computer equipment that enabled journalists to use computerassisted reporting in all stages of the reporting process.6 Also, an increasing number of textbooks were developed, helping professionals and faculty to become more competent at computerassisted reporting.7 And, importantly, much of the world's information is becoming computerized. About 93% of all data and information in the world is produced in digital form, according to a study by students in the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California at Berkeley. By the year 2005, some think it will become possible for the average person to access virtually all recorded information.8 For journalists to be watchdogs of government, they must know how to access, retrieve, organize and communicate in a digital information environment, using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), database managers and spreadsheet or statistical computer programs. That training should take place in their college classrooms. Study Goals Although computers are used in every stage of the news process, from gathering information to producing and disseminating it, this study focuses on the first stage-using computers to gather information. …

Media Convergence/Management Change: The Evolving Workflow for Visual Journalists

This article, based on a national survey of photo editors and Web directors from news organizations publishing, both online and in hard copy, examines the differences in workflow of visual journalists. An evolution in how news photographs are used and in the aesthetic and technical handling is occurring as newspapers embrace new media publishing. As a result, newspapers and news organizations are creating different operating systems within the field of photo editing and Web production. This article was done in conjunction with Kenny Irby, Visual Journalism Group Leader, The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

Privacy in America: The Frontier of Duty and Restraint

Topics at a Poynter Institute privacy conference in December 1992 ranged from the role and obligations of the journalist to the rights of victims. Journalists' responsibility to fulfill a dual role of truthtelling and minimizing harm to vulnerable people in society framed the discussion. The public' s curiosity and media obsessions with information about victims of sex crimes are the first topics to be explored. Bob Steele of the Poynter Institute sets the stage for the delicate balance. Helen Benedict, author of Virgin or Vamp: How the Press Covers Sex Crimes, suggests some reforms regarding this area of news. Patricia Bowman, a victim's advocate, talks about her experience as the victim of the media and of a celebrated sex crime case. Elinor Brecher of the Miami Herald discusses a particularly vexing assignment she recently faced, and Tom French of the St. Petersburg Times expresses concern for the subjects of sensitive personal stories and recommends trying to inform them about the story and help them ...