Proportional Without Being Out of Proportion

Although it is clear to anyone that various publications target different demographics, I did not believe such a pattern could be detrimental instead of beneficial.  In particular, demographics have not only shifted but new ones have emerged.  For instance, as Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel discuss in The Elements of Journalism, newspapers did evolve to an acceptable degree to accommodate the interests of mainly European immigrants.  Currently, there are more diverse audiences from other parts of the world, and the circulation and content of mainstream newspapers has not taken them into account.  Consequently, a core function of journalism, namely to inform the public, has not been fulfilled as many communities have been neglected.  This harrowing fact is not only unfair but potentially dangerous as people will not have the knowledge to make informed decisions and opinions about the world.

What is even more disturbing is the methods employed to attract the most viewers.  Because these audiences are so diverse, there is the increasing temptation to revert back to a yellow journalism mentality and produce pieces designed to create hype amongst an audience.  Unfortunately, all too many publications and networks succumb to this easier approach.  Periods of time in which broadcasters expend too much thought and energy is are sweeps periods in which networks determine are sweeps throughout the year in which networks determine what television shows are the most popular.  To inflate their numbers, apparently networks choose to air pieces people could arguably deem absurd, such as the dangers of burning candles.  An unsettling recent example of the product of sweeps month is an article in which the Washington Post congratulates Jimmy Kimmel on accruing the best sweeps numbers to date.  The article mentions what an impressive feat this was, especially during Hurricane Sandy: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tv-column/post/jimmy-kimmel-live-scores-best-sweep-stats-ever/2012/11/30/ab6c85d8-3b2e-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_blog.html.  This tone is troubling because it encourages Jimmy Kimmel when his focus on the sweeps period usurped matters of national importance, in this case the ravages of Hurricane Sandy.  Similarly, even though the New York Times admits sweeps periods are archaic, they nevertheless encourage the competition between Good Morning America and the Today Show: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/good-morning-america-notches-first-sweeps-win-over-today/.

However, one does not have to be in the midst of a sweeps period to find hyped pieces.  A prime example of a recently hyped story is the resignation of David Petraeus from being Director of the Central Intelligence Agency due to infidelity in his marriage.  While this news is certainly disturbing and newsworthy, the sheer volume of media coverage far outweighed its ultimate significance amongst the American people.  Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post attempts to rectify this coverage and offers a thoughtful, balanced assessment of General Petraeus: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/petraeus-not-a-hero-but-not-a-failure/2012/11/30/8b9e46d8-3a57-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_story.html.

It is likely an exercise in futility to reach all demographics, but this does not mean that journalists cease striving to achieve this goal or resort to base means such as hyped stories.  Journalists carry the burden but arguably sacred responsibility of listening to the many different voices in the communities their publication addresses and providing appropriate, useful information about the world and pertinent issues.

Journalism and Religion

Religion is often a controversial subject for journalists, arguably with good reason: it can cloud the way in which a journalist portrays the truth.  There is the natural tendency to see reality through the lens of one’s religion and even to use writing as an opportunity to share information about the religion.  As a result, other journalists have feared this possibility and have striven to completely avoid religion in their pieces.  This dichotomy is exemplified in contrasting Pluto’s perspective with that of Kolob.  Kolob championed a theocracy as the ideal society with a journalistic duty to disseminate truth and life.  Such a society would emphasize taking an eternal perspective on life and would maintain that self-worth comes from obedience and selflessness.  Forgiveness and repentance are made possible through Jesus Christ. By contrast, Pluto advocates a democracy in which time is of the essence, wealth and power determine self-worth, and forgiveness and repentance are not possible.  Although these two scholars lived hundreds of years before our time, their ideas act as a microcosm for the same conflict in journalism.

However, there is a way in which journalism and religion can intersect.  Even though they are in different realms, both seek to provide truth.  In fact, values journalists report on derive from religion.  Moreover, many people about whom journalists write are inspired by faith, and these stories often show how people use faith to deal with challenges and tragedy.  Indeed, organized religion has become a powerful institution in America felt by industries, farms, schools, medical research, and government.  As a result, religious news is increasing in popularity in the United States, especially in the South.

It is fascinating to observe the number and variety of daily news in various outlets discussing religion.  Eric Marrapodi from CNN broaches the issue of religion in education and sports in his article in which he describes the quandary LDS football players face at the predominately Catholic university Notre Dame: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/27/mormon-linebacker-helps-lead-catholic-notre-dame-to-national-championship-game/.  New York Times’s Nurit Novis Deutsch takes a more personal approach and describes intimate conversations with her children about religion: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/an-agnostic-talks-to-her-children-about-god/?ref=religionandbelief

As a member of the LDS faith, Bruce L. Christensen’s counsel offers me and current journalists a way to reconcile and enhance one’s written work within our Church’s standards.  It is important for us to not only understand how the media functions, but also to commit to communicate messages of the Gospel through media.  Whenever we are in doubt, we can always prayerfully follow the counsel of the brethren about how to use the media.

Trapped by the Mormons

Ironically, during the time in which Trapped by the Mormons was produced, apparently the Salt Lake Theater thrived and Utahns thoroughly enjoyed the theater.  Various LDS church leaders have expressed the sentiment that the goal of motion pictures together with all other media is to further values and civilization. Trapped by the Mormons has absolutely nothing to do with these statements, and its criticism of Mormons is so far-fetched that it is quite comical even to LDS audiences.  The premise of this British film is to put forth the notion that Mormons supposedly lured young women to Utah to become wives.  In this film, Isoldi Keene puts the innocent Nora Prescott under a trance, and the iris of the camera zooms in on Isoldi’s eyes to create the image of his eyes pulsating.  The blatant melodramatic captions in the silent film focusing on Isoldi’s overpowering “manhood” combined with farcically unbelievable elements, such as Nora’s father overcoming his paralysis when standing up to the “bad Mormons,” makes the film incredibly amusing.  However, when James V. D’Arc discussed the film with the audience before and after showing it to us, the film is painted in a different light.  While it is still certainly amusing, it is important to note that when it was first shown, the LDS Church found it offensive and far from amusing.  In fact, the Church’s reaction to Trapped by the Mormons is, fascinatingly enough, extremely similar to its reaction to the recent Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, which also pokes fun at the LDS faith: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/06/entertainment/la-et-cm-mormon-church-lds-ads-book-of-mormon-playbill-20120906.  D’Arc invites us to view Trapped by the Mormons as a barometer of cultural perceptions at a time in which imagery and motion were used to convey meaning.  This discussion enhanced my experience watching this film, as I not only found it hilarious, but I also took away the more sobering message that there are current productions trivializing the LDS faith.  While the next generation may laugh at The Book of Mormon, our generation, just as the original viewers of Trapped by the Mormons, largely find it offensive and harmful to the world’s perception of the LDS faith.

Lane Williams's "Exploratory Meeting: Is it Time to Create a Mormon Media Studies Association?"

Offering insight into a controversial but relevant topic, Lane Williams initiated a stimulating conversation about whether or not it is time to formally organize a Mormon Media Studies Associate to examine the Mormon media.  Making his lecture the form of a dialogue seems to echo the open-ended and still undecided answer to that question.  Some thoughts from the audience included that organizations and events happen organically, and it seems that a Mormon Media Studies Association is something that is naturally evolving through popular demand.  For example, the Mormon History Association started small but got bigger over time.  There has been a rising interest shown in online forums such as the Google Groups Mormon Media Studies.  Because of this increasing pertinence and demand, the BYU Communications Department co-sponsored the first Mormon Media Studies Symposium in 2010 with BYU TV.  This symposium included numerous lecturers in different disciplines, which thus combines academics who are studying the subject from different vantage points and practitioners who are actually participating in the Mormon media.

However, the future of such symposiums is unclear.  It is important to note that this symposium is aptly titled “Mormon Moment(s) and the Media,” and while it focuses upon Mormon moments both historically and currently, the LDS faith has especially been in the limelight in large part due to having a Mormon being a presidential nominee in the 2012 election.  As the media scrutiny about Mormonism fades somewhat from the intense coverage this year, will the demand to have Mormon Media Symposiums lessen?  Some, such as Dan Merica in his CNN article entitled “Romney’s Loss Closes Out ‘Mormon Moment,’” argue that it is the end of media interest in Mormons: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/08/romneys-loss-closes-out-mormon-moment/. 

Mr. Williams and other members of the panel propose having a journal devoted to the subject as a possible solution to maintain discussion and study of how media relates to Mormonism.  He notes that a crucial caveat of such a journal would be for it to acquire enough prestige to give incentives for professors to submit articles. With a variety of different types of media outlets discussing Mormonism, there is a desire with LDS communities across the world to come together, understand, interpret, and help change the way in which the LDS faith is portrayed.  Moreover, given how the media has become a central part of people’s lives, the current generation is the first to not see themselves as separate from the media. 

Although Mr. Williams did not propose concrete solutions because this issue is still debated and discussed, he raised a number of important questions about the definition of and how to keep Mormon media studies alive.  Because Mormon media studies is a subgroup of both Mormon studies and media studies, it is difficult to make decisions about what sort of direction the subject can and will follow.  However, the most central and inspiring point of Mr. Williams’s lecture is that mass media is the greatest communication we have.  Technology is shifting so rapidly that if we cannot grab onto it and analyze what is happening, we are doing a disservice to young people.  My generation needs a group to be able to clarify where Mormonism and the media is going.  This lecture has galvanized me to include studying and participating in Mormon media studies as a part of my future.

Ethical Journalism

Although ethics and journalism have been discussed before in conjunction with other principles, this week’s lesson helped paint a clearer picture of how ethics plays a central role in journalism.  It is a powerful but true statement to state that journalism is an act of character.  People depend upon news presented as a way of obtaining information and forming their own opinions about issues, events, and people in the world.  As a result, journalists have an obligation to exercise their conscience, and a heavy burden rests upon their personal ethics and judgment.  Many journalists succeed in this endeavor, but those fail to be ethical in their reporting undermine this vulnerability and trust for those reading or listening.  For example, one major problem in journalism occurs when journalists fabricate the news.  Journalists may present the truth creatively and even borrow from the novelist in the writing format, but they must always remember to never make anything up.  Stephen Glass, a reporter for the New Republic, fabricated at least 27 of the 42 articles he wrote for the magazine, and this mistake was so notorious that the storyline of the film Shattered Glass was based upon this journalist.

However, despite the journalistic world certainly being far from perfect, numerous institutions and sources are readily available to prepare them for approaching difficult situations in an ethical manner.  Most news outlets strive to achieve an open newsroom that allows people to challenge one another’s assumptions, perceptions, and prejudices.  In this sort of environment, journalists have the responsibility to exercise their personal conscience and are able to challenge news editors and established authorities if required.  Diversity in the newsroom is important to achieve this goal because the newsroom in that case is more representative of the community, so the views are more accurate and representative, which can help create this honest, open atmosphere.  Further, other institutions dedicated to journalistic values, such as the Poynter Institute, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.  The Society of Professional Journalists highlights four essential attributes of an aspiring journalist: seeking the truth and reporting it; minimizing harm, namely showing compassion and treating sources as humans; acting independently from any interest other than the public’s right to know certain information; and being accountable for one’s actions.

Given these ethical values, it is easy to see how a journalist has to maintain a precarious balance between presenting the truth in an engaging manner without letting one’s personal interests infiltrate the story.  I admire how Jason Barron’s and J. David Goodman’s New York Times article entitled “Northeast Suffers Huge Damage in Storm’s Path; Millions Without Power” manages to convey the suffering, death, and destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York City without becoming inappropriately emotional: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/us/hurricane-sandy-barrels-region-leaving-battered-path.html?ref=global-home .  However, a more sobering example I found illustrates how a reporter did not construct his story ethically.  Although it is certainly important to check facts before writing a story, Washington Post reporter Daniel de Vise showed entire drafts of his article to his sources.  While reporters are can verify with sources if they believe there has been factual inaccuracy, they are not supposed to show sources entire drafts to them “to avoid undue influence”: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/post-reporter-criticized-for----checking-his-facts/2012/07/25/gJQA9Yot8W_blog.html.  The Poynter Institute even mentioned this incident on its website, stating that after this debacle, reporters are required to have their editor’s approval before sending drafts to sources: http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/182714/brauchli-says-washington-post-reporters-will-need-editors-approval-to-share-drafts-with-sources/.  Despite some corruption that will always inevitably be present in any profession, reporters now have numerous sources that espouse ethical values and will be caught more easily if they fail to adopt these morals in their reporting.