Blogs on Faith

At first glance, the issue of journalism and religion might seem to be no more significant than, say, journalism and ethnicity, or age, or any of the other distinguishing characteristics that keep the ACLU in business. However, if the mission statement of BYU is to be believed, religion is a characteristic that goes “more than skin-deep.” In addition to a person’s upbringing or social expectations, religion affects worldviews. In organized religion, people are not just allowed but encouraged to evaluate every aspect of their lives by a set of values.

            Religion is important to individuals. So, it should be important to journalists. A reporter needs to be able to tell the story of an individual, complete and unfettered by bias, regardless of whether he or she is Episcopalian, Jewish, or agnostic.This is personified by Barry Bearak's quote. Bearak, a Jew, wrote an article about a Catholic community that won a Pulitzer Prize. According to Bearak, great stories are "hard to do well. They need time and space. They need reporters and editors with talent and with patience." I admit, in the light of all the added stress that is being placed on journalists right now, I am a little worried about the continuing ability of the media to produce such great stories about religion. 

         Just for fun:

• Coverage of Catholicism is disproportionately low, given the U.S. population
• Coverage of Islam is disproportionately high, given the U.S. population
• Coverage of both religious populations is disproportionately bad
• I read an interesting article in Thursday's NYT (which, unfortunately, is not to be found online) about BYU in New Orleans and critiqued it for its religion coverage

Look at the Puffs!

Dr. Nicolas Mason, the Beckham Communications Lecturer, had two major points: The first was more elemental, and, given his audience, lacked sparkle. He based it off two common myths about advertising: first, that it originated in America, and second, that it is an invention of the mid-nineteenth century. He disproved both with pictures, facts, and examples. He showed a picture of some ancient ads that were found on the walls of Pompeii. Apparently the city features the long-ago pleas for customers to solicit brothels and doctors. He also provided pictures and editorials on the state of advertising in London in the 1700s.

            His second point was far more interesting to me. He talked about puffery, which is essentially the last legal form of deception in advertising (e.g. “Red Bull gives you wings”). Puffery is of English origin, and it referred mostly to books at first. Apparently literary magazines, growing desperate competition, began allowing authors, or at least their close friends and relatives, to write the reviews for their own books. Needless to say, these reviews lacked something in the way of objectivity, and the “buttered” reviews, filled with “superlatives,” were known as “puffs.” His contention was that this excess of advertising not just coincided with, but caused, the economic collapse of the British publishing industry in the early 1800s. I was skeptical at first, but when I thought on it, all of the classic British writers I (and the two other people I discussed this with) can think of are from the Regency, Romantic, and Victorian period, not the Georgian.

            To explain the “so-what” of the lecture, Dr. Mason used Amazon.com. Apparently the site began with the goal of bringing English majors and Bohemians together to “preach the gospel of literature from the pulpit of the internet.” In time though, they began offering a $10,000 package in which a book was given a prominent location on the website and a custom “Amazon review treatment.” When this came to light, the editorial staff was fired in favor of the volunteer reviews we see today. Although these can be subjective, authors have been known to post glowing reviews of their own books—anonymously, of course. One author created a list of the “Best Hundred American books of the last century.” The Great Gatsby was Number 1, but his book came in at Number 5.

            Dr. Mason drew on the experiences of the past to make a judgment call for the present and future. His contention is that puffery is alive and well today. He believes that, just as it “killed” the literature of Georgian Britain, puffery is adversely affecting America’s struggling publishing industry today.

An Ambiguous African Adventure

I am going to begin by revealing my ignorance: I had never previously heard of Cheikh Hamidou Kane or his book, “Ambiguous Adventure” until Thursday’s lecture. However, in the short time that I listened to him, to excerpts from his book, and to others’ accounts of his him, I was deeply impressed. He walked and spoke with a quiet but confident dignity. He maintained that throughout his travels and tumultuous life, he had never abandoned his faith. He has lived through a period of Africa’s history that no one really understands, yet he remains hopeful. Additionally, at age 83, he is travelling to America to speak to students, most of whom do not speak his language. I have placed his book on my summer reading list.

            The metaphor that Kane uses in his book startled me at first. The Doctrine and Covenants refers to “that which is of God” as “light.” Kane, instead, represents faith with shadow. His explanation proved adequate to set my mind at rest though—faith can indeed be referred to as a “shadow of things to come.” We learn that God works in mysterious ways, and that He sees, not on the “exterior,” with quantities, qualities, and concrete data, but on the “heart.”

            As a BYU student, or perhaps simply as a Christian with a Westernized education, I was in a unique position relative to Kane’s ideas. One might even say that I am on my own ambiguous adventure. The quest to understand how scientific reasoning and religion can coexist is something to which I can relate. In a world where the “facts” often complicate the already confusing world, we seek a truth that will help us understand our role in it. I have taken a similar path to the Knight, looking forward to God’s coming with that mixture of certain hope and incomprehensibility that characterizes faith, while seeking an education that will allow me to live “in the world.” I must agree with Kane; we need both darkness and light in order to do our work here.

            I appreciate that Kane did not simply stand on an anti-Western/science soapbox. His openness allowed me to think a little more deeply. I am reminded of Ernest Hemingway’s story, in which a man who just attempted suicide was deemed “happy” because “he [had] plenty of money.” As Kane reminded us, the exterior is important, but without a strong inside, or foundation, a person is lost.

The Most Dangerous Professions

    I was recently talking to a friend who is debating between majoring in teaching or communications. Naturally, I had an opinion on the subject, and we had a good-natured discussion. After she left, I sat down to read the paper, and I was struck by the current problems that teachers seem to be encountering. This is one example. Shaking my head, I wondered that she was considering such a profession. Shortly thereafter, though, my slightly self-righteous thoughts were interrupted by the State of Media report for 2011. I was quickly forced to wonder why anyone would consider either course of study. My efforts, in short, to create a "true" or "false" answer to a multiple-choice problem left me feeling foolish. I was drawn, though, to a quote by W. G. Crane, "There is no future in any job. The future lies in the person who holds the job."
     This encounter reminded me of our "spectrum survey" in class, which was designed to show us that real people resist labels with startling skill. Most people do not fit nicely in one camp or another. Many of our current political issues come from the fact that the words "pro" and "anti" have made enemies from adversaries. The textbook reminded us that, as journalists, our job is to help democracy function. Part of this is accomplished by providing a public forum where solutions and comprises can be discussed, as opposed to insults traded. 

Ethical Considerations

    I once had an English teacher who had joined the public sector precisely because of an ethical concern. She had an interest in reading and writing, as well as a strong sense of social justice and a desire to make a difference in the world. At her first job, she was assigned to cover rapes in the area. Her editor wanted plenty of detail, and he seemed to want the stories covered in an excessive way. Constantly covering the same, rather unpleasant topic depressed her. However, she was even more concerned by the fact that she felt she was doing more harm than good. Interviewing the victims and their families seemed to be causing injury to them, and she could not see what good it was really doing anyone. She eventually became a high school English teacher.
   Stories like this concern me. I wonder what I would do in such situations. Journalists have a responsibility to the public, but we can never forget that the public is made up of individuals. If individuals are being hurt by a journalist's reporting work, then red flags should go up. Elements of Journalism  offers a solution to my former teacher's problem, explaining that "for journalists to be able to exercise their conscience, managers and owners have to create an open newsroom" (231). Other problems can also  be solved by this. I like to think of the clip from the movie Hitch where the editor questions whether the reporter feels comfortable running a story in which she had a conflict of interest.
    Truth, to me, is obvious. I was surprised by how much organizations themselves have to say about ethics. I was impressed with Code of Ethics for the LA Times. Ultimately, though, the importance of ethics boils down to a statement by Carol Marin, "A journalist is someone who believes in something that they would be willing to quit over."

Watchdog Journalism #7

Rusty from Lady and the Tramp--that is the image that comes, unbidden, into my head with the phrase "watchdog journalism." I thought that I should probably get the cultural clutter out of the way before I tried to analyze the topic critically. Unfortunately, not everyone has my philosophy. "Watchdog journalism" has a lot of cultural clutter. "Dangerous washing machines" seemed to be the catchphrase in class, and, for a lot of people, I think that pretty much sums it up. To explain: my American Heritage professor described muckraker journalism in a lecture (Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, Ida B. Tarbell's lengthy expose on John D. Rockefeller, etc.), explaining that the whole idea is that, once exposed to "the light of day," corruption can somehow be cured. To show us how such journalism operates today, he showed this clip. Don't get me wrong, dirty glasses will make hotel travelers wince, but lipstick residue was a bit of a let-down after The Jungle.
     Is there a place for serious investigative reporting? I think so. There are important issues that citizens lack the resources to discover, but should know. In the government and business sector, independent journalists have a role to play. However, as media companies are consolidated, independence becomes more difficult to come by, "I-teams" can end up on wash duty. This goes back to the former issue of independence. Possible solutions, and I admit, I  like this one, include the Center for Public Integrity. To me, watchdog journalism should involve focused journalists. They should not end up as either elitist advocates or overtime health inspectors. I like to think of an investigative reporter as a good citizen on steroids, so to speak.
     From the view of a journalist, I liked the quote by Susan Kelleher from Elements of Journalism, "Before anybody participates with me in a story in the sense of a source, I tell them how I work. I tell them they have to go on the record. I tell them I am going to be asking other people about them, that even though I find them really nice people, I am going to have to check them out" (Kovach 154).

Flying Motorcyles (in terms of social change)

         I will be honest: I could have walked into the Honors lecture room, read the title, “Implications of Place, Mobility, and Technology in Economic Development: Impact of Motorcycle Access on Female Fertility in Indonesia,” and walked away completely satisfied. I do not believe that I have ever seen a title, including the well-named works of the late Tennessee Williams, which brought me so much joy. However, that title was followed by a fascinating lecture, and I had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Brown later that evening. Thursday was red-letter day for me in terms of intellectual stimulation.

            First, and this relates to the fore-mentioned title, I liked Dr. Brown’s premise. He explained that his research had allowed him to combine all of the things that interested him: poverty, cultural change, development, equity for women, and more, into one project. This project also involved travel, meeting new people, concepts, and making cultural comparisons. The realization that such wonderful careers exist is one reason that I enjoy Honors 292 so very much.

            Dr. Brown connected geography with mental state in a very interesting way. The Mississippi Delta was his first example. He believes that, as much as the area’s socioeconomic state, its “flatness” has contributed to the genius of the American authors who got their starts there. He believes that the unusual vastness and sense of space gives the people a different sense of the universe. He also explained the difference in opportunity between rural, bounded areas and larger ones. This eventually culminated with the idea that, when transportation (in this case, motorcycles) allows individuals to conquer their geographic limitations, massive socioeconomic changes can be effected.

The idea that mountains, valleys, or deltas can do so much to a person’s resume is incredible, yet his conclusion was backed up with sound research. On a personal note, I have always felt more comfortable when surrounded by mountains, and I am certainly feeling my horizons expand from what they were when I lived in a small town a hour’s drive from everywhere.

            The #1 indicator of a nation’s GDP: female fertility.He used this website's video. After getting over one’s shock, there is an attempt to rationalize it with population. However, Dr. Brown hardly mentioned this factor. No, he believes that motorcycles are a source of transportation, allowing people to conquer their geographic boundaries. This increases opportunities for women, which decreases a household’s economic incentive to send their daughters into marriage and childbearing at age 14. For this reason, women contribute directly to the economy, have fewer children to burden said economy, and are better able to take care of themselves and said children. And, of course, healthier people lead to a healthier economy. I am not saying that motorcycles are the answer to world hunger, but the idea of pulling people out of a vicious cycle with a logical step like that is impressive.

Independence and Journalism #5

  Independence and Journalism focuses on the following principle of journalism: Journalism must maintain an independence from those they cover. Look at the book. Closing related to the idea of avoiding advocacy, this principle refers to the need to be dedicated to giving the public the truth more than anything else. I admit, I have a hard time understanding the individuality of this principle, but I guess all journalistic principles can't be "independent" of each  other.
 When I think about journalists and independence from their journalistic subjects, I always think of the picture by Kevin Carter with the Sudanese girl and the vulture. See the picture and some background here. 
Apparently Carter waited for some time, hoping that the vulture behind the starving child would spread his wings, but he finally gave up, took the picture, and left. The picture shocked many people, and a number of them blamed Carter, comparing him to another type of vulture. I don't think that a journalist has to be that way. I believe that, although he or she has a responsibility to many things, including truth, the story, the citizens, the company they work for, etc, the responsibility to humanity is not something that can be "left at the door." Take the picture, and do what you can in life-threatening situations. Just make sure that you don't get emotionally involved in every sob story that comes your way.

Journalism as an Idealogue #6

 An idealogue---- Wavy red lines have appeared underneath the word, which leads me to believe that it is to be defined via the dictionary of experience. In the classroom discussion, the concern was voiced that journalists sometimes become too involved in their stories. Instead of being advocates for the people and public well-being, they take on the role of an activist. The point was made that the specific cause does not really matter: whether for recycling, Hurricane Katrina victims, or the Democratic party, journalists must be wary of activism's lure. For this last point, someone brought up an article by Orson Scott Card, a registered Democrat who scolds the press for their Democratic leanings in reporting the financial crisis and the presidential election. http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2008-10-05-1.html Card mentions investigative reporting. He specifically mentions journalists who, as idealogues, choose to pursue certain stories, allowing leads that do not help their "case" to slumber undisturbed. That, we learn, is the primary danger of advocacy in journalism. Unverifiable facts and "spin" happen, to be sure, but most editing is completed long before such issues come up. Journalists can sway public opinion by their choice of story.
  The issue of editing through story selection becomes particularly concerning in light of the Agenda Setting Theory of mass communications. One of the most modern (and I suppose "most correct" follows) theories of mass communications, its basic idea is that the media controls what people think/talk about. Consider: you can't even disagree with an article if you don't know about it. For more information on this theory, see http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Mass%20Media/Agenda-Setting_Theory.doc/.
  As a prospective journalist, one question remains for me. Can the profession of journalism coexist with an active, involved citizen? For many people, the draw to this profession lies in its power to affect positive change. Page 69 of this book gives an account of a journalist who withdrew from civic life in an effort to maintain his objective perspective. See Mind of a Journalist . This begs the question: is he just giving us the perspective of an uninvolved individual? Is that sacrifice required of a practitioner of the "best" profession?