Track 10

Unit 10

Media studies

Principles of journalism

Pages 96 and 97

Listen for main ideas and listen for details.

Today, they were going to look at the principles of good journalism as we all know there are many different media sources, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, the Internet, regardless of the media we work in; as journalists we need to think about the underlying principles of good journalism.

Today, I’m going to present principles compiled by the committee of concerned journalists, a group of more than 7000 journalists from around the globe.

They spent five years doing research to get a deep understanding of what defines good journalism.

First, I’ll go over these principles. Then will consider them in relationship to the Internet because of its growing influence on journalism.

All right, let’s get started.

Principal 1: journalists need to tell the truth. We need to verify facts and make clear the sources of our information so that the public can judge for itself what news to trust. They expect us to tell the truth,

Principal 2: journalists first obligation is to the public, not to advertisers or the owners of the news media. Our job is to keep people informed, our news stories shouldn’t be biased toward the political views or political interests of the owners or sponsors.

principal 3: journalists need to be independent and objective to best do this we need to use multiple sources of information so that we can provide accurate information and cover all sides of the story.

For example, let’s say the government passes stricter laws for teenage drivers. A good reporter needs to get reactions from all sides, government officials, parents, police teenagers to cover the story adequately. Otherwise, the story maybe one-sided

principal 4: the watchdog, we must provide the public with news about important government actions that affect. For example, a decision to raise taxes in a democracy. Citizens need to know they can rely on journalists to let them know what’s happening in government.

That takes us to principal 5: a journalist must be a good storyteller. We must ask ourselves what news is most relevant to the public and then how are news stories in an interesting way. The committee calls this storytelling with a purpose.

Principal 6: Every journalist needs to be honest and have a sense of ethics and responsibility. We need to think for ourselves and take a stand for what we believe it. Professionally speaking, but this is sometimes difficult to do especially if the company we are working for encourages or discourages coverage of a particular issue.

Principal 7: Keep the news balanced cover both good and bad news in order to provide a complete picture of what’s going on in the community. People want to know about terrible crimes, but also without successful literacy programs in great concert. Now I want to turn to the role of the Internet. No one in journalism can dispute its impact back when I started out as a journalist. There was no Internet, which you probably find hard to imagine.

Let’s look at some of the ways it has changed journalism first is how most journalists conduct their research.

According to the executive director for the committee of concerned journalists. The Internet has given journalists huge opportunities to cover more stories and to cover them in a different way than traditional media have done. Different; Indeed, these days, many reporters rarely leave their offices.

They use the Internet, email and the phone instead of conducting live interviews are going to the scene of the event.

Another impact of the Internet has been an increased number of the official news outlets in the form of websites.

However, many Internet sites are just extensions of existing news media. Television news networks. Various news publications and feature the same journalists stories rather than additional stories.

Finally, Internet blogs have had a significant impact on modern journalism blogs provide a way for what we call citizen journalists to report their own version of the news think about.

Traditionally, professional journalists have decided what news report to the public. Now, through blogs, citizen journalists are deciding what’s important.

So, what all of these changes mean for the future of journalism. Well, I don’t think professional journalists will become extinct like dinosaurs. Rather, I see a new paradigm for journalism, a partnership between citizen journalists and professional journalists. There is room for all of us.

That said, we all must be committed to the seven principles and that’s when you leave off today. Please discuss in your study groups. Which of the seven principles you think are more valuable to good journalism?