2. Session Outline
Introduction
Fourth Estate
What is objectivity?
2
Origins of objectivity
Objectivity in practice – Examples...
What is impartiality?
What do we mean by balance?
Conclusion
7. “This goes to the heart of science
reporting – you wouldn't have a
homeopath speaking alongside a
brain surgeon for balance, as that
would be absurd.
It's just as absurd to have a climate
sceptic for balance against the work of
the overwhelming majority of climate
scientists.”
- Steve Jones, biologist
7
9. Power of the media: Fourth Estate
9
The “forth estate” - separate from:
the church
the judiciary
the commons (see Allan, 2004: 47)
“The public trust most of the things they read in
newspapers so journalists must be responsible in the way
they present issues that directly affect the lives of others”
(Nyaira, 2004: 34 cited in Harcup, 2007: 3).
10. Power of the media: Fourth Estate
1. “Democratic” role:
help the public understand the world around them
1. “Watchdog” role:
“bring misdemeanours to the attention of the
public”
See Conboy, 2004: 110
10
11. Criticisms...
“The ideas of the ruling class are in
every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the
class which is the ruling material force
of society, is at the same time its
ruling intellectual force.”
(Karl Marx, 1845)
11
12. Criticisms...
12
Ethnic minorities “opinions are less asked or found
less credible or newsworthy, also because most
journalists (and virtually all editors) are white” (Cottle,
2000: 36)
13. A fair say?
13
Allan (2004: 52) points to the increasing
marginalisation of voices in:
◦ The labour movement
◦ Trade unions
◦ Feminists
◦ Anti-racists
◦ Environmentalists
◦ Anti-poverty activists
◦ Groups committed to progressive social change
14. Objectivity:
Simply: Trust & Reliability
Factors include: Factual accuracy; unbiased,
separation of fact from comment, not taking sides
“Controversy about the term stem mainly from the
view that true objectivity is unattainable and it is
misleading to pretend otherwise” (McQuail, 2000:
500).
Ideological...
14
15. Truth?
Whose ‘truth’?
Truths based on facts?
Facts require full contexts
Facts must be accurate
Does the news have
time and space to
explore all issues
‘truthfully’?
15
18. Routinising tthhee uunneexxppeecctteedd
((sseeee AAllllaann,, 22000044:: pp6644))
18
Pressure to remain profitable & cost-effective
hinders lengthy investigative journalism
24 hour production cycle forces tight
deadlines upon journalists - New
technologies enhance the speed of
reporting
Work to set rules of practice, proven to get
results in an attempt to explain the unpredictable
19. Story quotas uncovered…
Typical scaremongering story in
Metro News
‘Game Transfer Phenomena’
19
20. Story quotas uncovered…
20
“The Metro, they obviously had an agenda -
because all [the reporter] said was that he
just wanted to know about the negative
stuff. I told him that the paper was
primarily positive, or at least neutral. He
said 'I don't want to know about that, I
want to know the negative stuff.' So I just
went through what we did, what we found
and what we are doing next.”
Prof Griffiths, author of the study!!!
21. Hierarchies
21
Journalists rely on a commonsensical
understanding that society is bureaucratically
structured (Fishman, 1980: 51)
For example: Dale Farm eviction (October 2011)
The farm owners or residents
Local politicians (Councillor Tony Ball)
Bailiffs
Environmental health officials
Campaigners
22. BBC1 coverage ITV1 coverage
Images of protester in
concrete
3 second soundbite of
angry resident
5 second soundbite of
campaigner
5 second soundbite of
resident
20 second piece by
Councillor
Audio of aggressive
residents
18 second appeal by
bailiffs
2 second soundbite of
angry resident
Images of celebrations
10 second piece by
Councillor
22
23. ‘‘PPrriimmaarryy ddeeffiinneerrss’’
‘This means constantly turning to accredited
representatives of major social institutions – M.P.s
for political topics, employers and trade union
leaders for industrial matters, and so on…’
(Hall et al, 1978: 58)
23
24. ‘‘PPrriimmaarryy ddeeffiinneerrss’’
‘Such institutional representatives are “accredited”
because of their institutional power and
position, but also because of their
“representative” status: either they represent
“the people” (M.P.s, Ministers, etc.) or organised
interest groups’
(Hall et al, 1978: 58)
24
25. Reporting of Islam
25
“The attack is not against Islam as a faith but
Muslims as people” (Halliday, 1999: 898).
Different forms of Islamic belief?
1960s – immigration (problem of numbers)
1970s & 80s – Black community (criminals) & Irish (IRA/
terrorism)
1990s to present – Muslims (Un-British/ terrorists) & Asylum
(damaging to Britain)
26. Is Islam reported objectively?
26
Empirical work – “72% of articles over a six month
period in The Sun contained the words terrorism
and Islam together” (April – September 2008).
“The public trust most of the things they read”
Any event concerning Islam, who do the media
turn to as a source???
Abu Hamza Omar Bakri
28. The influence of news agencies and PR
28
From Flat Earth News:
Direct rewrites of PA article: 30%
Largely reproduced from agencies: 19%
Contained elements: 21%
News sourced from press agencies: 70%
(this excludes PR material which would push figure even
higher)
In SunSpace:
Justin Lewis, Andrew Williams and Bob Franklin, 2008, ‘Four Rumours and
an Explanation: A political economic account of journalists’ changing
newsgathering and reporting practices’ in Journalism Practice, Vol 2, No 1,
pp 25-45.
29. The influence of news agencies and PR
29
From Flat Earth News:
“PA has such credibility that media outlets treat it
as a reliable source which does not need to be
checked. The BBC’s internal guidelines …
specifically instruct their journalists that they
must have at least two sources for every story –
unless it is running on PA … A special notice
issued by the BBC journalism board on 1
December 2004 told the staff: ‘The Press
Association can be treated as a confirmed,
single source’”
Davies, 2008: p74-5
30. TThhee rriissee ooff ““iimmppaarrttiiaalliittyy””??
Defined as:
A “sound practice [that] makes clear
distinction between news reports and
expressions of opinion. News reports
should be free of opinion or bias of
any kind”
(American Society of Newspaper Editors, 1923 in
Allan, 2004: 22)
30
31. ““IImmppaarrttiiaalliittyy”” hhaass bbeeccoommee……
31
The doctrine of “not taking sides” in the reporting
of public affairs
Realisation of the impossibility of absolute
“objectivity”, seeking “balance” instead
32. BUT…
32
In the context of unexpected breaking
news, how do you achieve balance?
Developments are unknowable?
????? ?????
33. ““DDuuee iimmppaarrttiiaalliittyy””
33
“To ensure that news, in whatever form, is reported
with due accuracy and presented with due
impartiality ”
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/broadcast-codes/broadcast-BBC have extra guidelines
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/our_work/other/century21.shtml
37. Conclusion
37
Objectivity can never be satisfied due to the
structural limitations of strict deadlines for news and
the consequences of routinising the unexpected.
News aims for impartiality which is
problematic given that news selection and
positioning means subjective value
decisions still have to be made
The ‘truth’ of news is that it is ideological
38. Points to consider:
38
Objectivity? (is it possible?)
Impartiality (Is it necessary?)
What are the techniques by which the
news makes itself credible?
39. Sources
39
S. Allan, 2004, News Culture 2nd Edition, Berkshire: Open University Press
A. Bell, 1991, The Language of the New Media, Oxford: Blackwell.
N. Davies, 2008, Flat Earth News, London: Chatto & Windus
Stuart Hall, ‘The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media’ in Paul Marris and Sue Thornham (eds.) 1997,
Media Studies: A Reader, Dundee: Edinburgh University Press
S. Hall, C. Critcher, Jefferson, Clarke, Roberts, 1978, Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, Law and Order ,
D. Hallin, 1986, The Uncensored War: The Media and Vietnam, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Justin Lewis, Andrew Williams and Bob Franklin, 2008, ‘Four Rumours and an Explanation: A political economic
account of journalists’ changing newsgathering and reporting practices’ in Journalism Practice, Vol 2, No 1, pp 25-45.
M. Leapman, 1992, Treacherous Estate, London: Hodder & Stoughton.
R. K. Manoff and M. Shudson (eds.), 1986, Reading the News, New York: Pantheon.
J. Palmer, 1998, ‘News production: news values’ in A. Briggs and P. Cobley, The Media: An Introduction, Harlow:
Longman.
R. McChesney, 2001, ‘Global Media, Neoliberalism, and Imperialism’ at http://www.monthlyreview.org/301rwm.htm
P. Schlesinger, 1987, Putting Reality Together 2nd edition, London: Methuen.
L. V. Sigal, 1973, Reporters and Officials, Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
M. Shudson, 1991, ‘The sociology of news production revisited’ in J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (eds.), Mass Media and
Society, Arnold: London.
G. Tuchman, 1978, Making News, New York: Free Press.
40. See also:
40
Race and ideology in news
Stuart Hall, ‘The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist
Ideologies and the Media’ in Paul Marris and Sue
Thornham (eds.) 1997, Media Studies: A Reader,
Dundee: Edinburgh University Press
Corporate media ownership
Robert McChesney, 2001, ‘Global Media,
Neoliberalism, and Imperialism’ at
http://www.monthlyreview.org/301rwm.htm
Editor's Notes
Steve Jones (biologist): the BBC was still wedded to an idea of "false balance" in presenting climate sceptics alongside reputable scientists.
Carrying on from Public Sphere, It is often said that the news media represent the “forth estate” - separate from the church, the judiciary and the commons (see Allan, 1999: 49).
Quote
Media have two functions, democratic and watchdog.
Democratic role - The responsibility of the press is to present a range of different ideas of events which are of general interest to the public so that they can make sense of the world around them.
Watchdog role – the press bring ... So investigative journalism of all forms is a vital strategy in the claims that the press act in this fashion.
However, the democratic approach has been critiqued by many including the former journalist Karl Marx:
So, Marx says that the media sets agendas, these agendas are formed and created by members of the ruling class – If we think about this in a bit more depth, the ruling class within this context is the media institutions (replacing the traditional form of the public sphere)
Quote
If look at this further problems arise – the European media institutions are dominated by white males so this perhaps results in a marginalisation of minorities? Does everyone have a fair say in the media? What groups misrepresented? Ethnic minorities are under represented within journalism and to a certain extent so are women. So, if the media is dominated by white males, will they publish material to maintain their power within society?
Quote
Therefore, if we look back at the public sphere last week, does everyone have access to it? Is participation equal? Do the media challenge dominant ideals and stereotypes?
However, the democratic approach has been critiqued by many including the former journalist Karl Marx:
So, Marx says that the media sets agendas, these agendas are formed and created by members of the ruling class – If we think about this in a bit more depth, the ruling class within this context is the media institutions (replacing the traditional form of the public sphere)
Quote
If look at this further problems arise – the European media institutions are dominated by white males so this perhaps results in a marginalisation of minorities? Does everyone have a fair say in the media? What groups misrepresented? Ethnic minorities are under represented within journalism and to a certain extent so are women. So, if the media is dominated by white males, will they publish material to maintain their power within society?
Quote
Therefore, if we look back at the public sphere last week, does everyone have access to it? Is participation equal? Do the media challenge dominant ideals and stereotypes?
Slide
So, it should be becoming clearer that news is not value-free, but value laden and it functions ideologically, to disseminate specific ways of seeing the world. So we are fed information about the world from a white dominated male discourse.
However, journalists claim that they work objectively - scientific approach to making statements unbiased
PCC code states that journalists must report matters fairly, accurately, balanced and objectively. But what is objectivity?
Objectivity is a theoretically contested term applied to news – simply means trust
But, News is always going to subjective
Quote
In short, news is said to be ideological – argued by critics that objectivity is another ideology
The media can manipulate the news to conceal ‘bias’, this may be intended or unintended
Slide: Newspaper sales decreasing – less money in newspapers than before – example of why we don’t see as much investigative journalism.
Early press, more time – better evaluation of stories. Traditional public sphere - people subjected to a more in depth version of reality than the
‘mediated public sphere’?
Slide: Growth of technology – deadlines tight – more first out there with the breaking news – quality suffered?
Slide: As long as the who, what, when, where, how is reported – all that matters – not so much why? Reporting these areas allows journalists to
send out information quickly
The media don’t act as a mirror to the world and report its reflection. The production of news is confined by the impact of time and cost – which is
why the same stories are presented across all forms of the media – this is due to market pressures, institutional factors among others.
Fishman (1980: 51) claimed that ... As a result – hierarchies are formed.
For instance, a journalist knows that in order to cover a story on wind farms and their environmental impact, they can contact a number of people in related fields...
They will all be able to offer perspectives, thus the journalist knows where to position him/herself in relation to locating suitable sources.
Hall and the other authors pointed out that this bureaucratic structure exists. Their investigation demonstrated how news statements tend to be dependent upon ‘authoritative’ statements from ‘legitimate’ institutional sources
The routine professional rules of news production serve to represent the ‘opinion of the powerful’.
Instead of greater objectivity or neutrality, we get institutional voices defining the reality of an event (link this with Habermas’ public sphere).
Sources who have a high status position in society therefore become more likely to be given a voice by the media – Seen as ‘primary definers’ on controversial topics. It’s a reliance on these ‘primary definers’ whereby problems with objectivity arise.
Discuss this in relation to terrorism
Islam linked to terrorism for over a decade. Thus, as the British media continue to publicise the threat of Islam, especially with regards to terrorism, this effectively stirs up hatred and causes friction within society. Muslims – not compatible with Western way of life
Media tell us all the facts?
Look at persecuted groups in society - change over time. Every so often the persecuted groups change.
Shows the power of the media – can manipulate the audience from what they publish – influence our ideologies on contentious issue such as ‘race’ and religion.
If society is fed information that continually links Muslims and terrorism together – do we believe that they are all terrorists? Some people will! Do the media promote what Muslims are doing positively in this country – what they are achieving in the art world, promising steps of integration into mainstream popular culture, have the media told us that there are over 10,000 Muslim millionaires in Britain? Muslims contribute an overall £31bn a year to the economy. Look at media ownership – white males – protect position of power – downplay minority groups
Why are they seen as primary definers? Public sphere – should they even be allowed a voice by the media. Links to Nick Griffin – should we really be subjected to what he has to say? Is what he is saying in aid of public betterment?
Bell’s (1991) study of journalists in New Zealand - A tendency for pre-packaged news items to be favourable over much more newsworthy stories
Pre-packaged meaning stuff already written – easier than writing a whole story from scratch
Over70% of newspapers’ material has come from a PR source – as a result can the media really be objective? Media credible?
Look at the press association...
So certain factors which we’ve discussed have shown that objectivity is perhaps obscure. It may be better to think in terms of impartiality which Allan defines as...
Slide
But if we think back to institutional voices and hierarchies, can the media be impartial? So, we need to take account explicit or implicit ideological cultural bias – keep an open mind when reading the newspaper or watching the television? Is the reporting really fair and accurate?
Remember the Brazilian who was shot on the tube – from the Express’ front page – are they being impartial? No – supporting the police against a ‘foreigner’ – supporting the dominant ethnic group in contemporary society? Surely this is bias and not objective or impartial?
Media try to get the facts out ASAP – but as we see with some stories – they change as time goes by – Princess Diana/ London bombings are examples of this
Due impartiality may be the ideal scenario but you have to question whether it is attainable?
“To ensure that news, in whatever form, is reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality” – need to adhere to section 5 of the OFCOM code
What they mean by ‘due’ is simply – not favouring one side over the other. But this is significant because it means that the media don’t have to give equal amounts of coverage to each argument. This rule is seen as a protection system: means that news producers don’t have to give vast coverage to right-wing political groups such as the BNP (although their views may be seen to of interest to the public)?
So as a result, ‘due impartiality’ perhaps undermines some of Habermas’ ideals of the public sphere?
So you could argue that objectivity is an ideal that can never be achieved – due to strict deadlines etc
