1. Real v. Fake News
Principles of Journalism
Professor Neil Foote
2. Public Journalism - Revisited
Joseph Faina: “Public Journalism is a joke:
The case for Jon Stewart and Stephen
Colbert”
Davis Merrit (Public Journalism and Public
Life: 1998)
More than just telling the news
More than Objectivity
Traditional news today: Ineffective for
engaging the public
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3. Journalism a key player in
democracy
Information dissemination
Accountability
Representation
Deliberation
Conflict resolution
6. ‘Public Journalism’
Acknowledge public’s ability to act
Acknowledge the role of self-governance
Role of journalism in promoting ‘foment
and agitation’
Today, cable discussions turn into shouting
matches
Public turned off by the ‘winners’ v. ‘losers’
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7. So what should journalists do?
1. Focus on consequences
a) Beyond just who to vote for, which
‘side’ of issue to support
2. Focus on real problem of issue
a) More than the ‘horse race’ or
‘political gamesmanship’
b) Uncover the overarching themes
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8. So what should journalists do?
3. Frame issues on whom they affect
the most – implications on the
community
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9. Stewart v. Colbert
Comedians or Journalists?
Satirists v. Pundits
Facts v. Opinion
Context v. Regurgitation
Analysis v. Chronicling
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11. Humor, Parody, Satire
Humor: ‘Analytical, critical, and
rational’
Parody: Mimicry and imitation
Satire: ‘Most overtly political genre’
– scrutinize public behavior
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12. How ‘Political Satire’ Impacts Us
How we talk about these series issues
Viewers of The Daily Show and Colbert
Report better engaged
Bridging the gap between news, politics and
journalists
Humor unites – or divides groups
If you don’t like the joke, go elsewhere to find
the facts
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13. Ted Koppel
“They don’t pretend to be
journalists…They are doing a better
job than the real journalists.”
---Ted Koppel, created ABC’s
Nightline/veteran journalist
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14. On the other side:
“Journalists have a really inconvenient thing
they’ve got to go through: a process of
trying to [the story] right. … I don’t think
journalists should try to get more hip.
Journalists have to learn the one lesson
which is important, which is to try to get it
right.”
- Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier
Center for Television and Popular Culture at
Syracuse University.
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15. What about these sites?
Fark: http://fark.com
TheOnion: http://theonion.com
FactCheck.org:
http://factcheck.org
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17. Journalists must:
Be obligated to the truth
Be obligated to accuracy
Be balanced
Be transparent
Be independent
Hold a forum for public discussion
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18. Discuss within your groups
Do the Daily Show and The Colbert
Report help/hurt journalism?
Explain drawing off the core
elements of journalism we’ve
discussed to date.
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