The Future of Journalism

A couple of disclaimers.

First, I know this belongs on a more serious forum, but it might not get read, and I do have a serious question to ask.

Second, I ask you to bear with me and my recent obsession. I have only recently discovered this Aussie actor named Russell Crowe, and, I have mentioned too often, that I have found his characterizations to be inspirational for developing my own latest character. I have always had a compulsion to research as deeply as I can into any new concern; this one is no different, and this is a serious question that I happened to come across during my research.

I have just finished watching a film from 2009 called "State of Play." It is primarily about the current situation that newspapers and other publications find themselves in - the growing influence of the internet and related media on that of traditional printed works, as well as the influence of politics, big business, and monopolistic corporations on what and how the "news" is presented.

In this story, an older reporter (Crowe) and a young blogger (Rachel McAdams), both working for a newspaper (based on The Washington Post), find themselves trying to uncover a series of stories that eventually prove to be interrelated, and point to a major political and corporate cover-up.

The story raises many of the same questions that we have been discussing here on this board. How is traditional publishing to survive (and should it) in the modern era of electronic media? Should news reporting remain unbiased, or is it OK for a paper or network to have a political slant? What should be the ethics of any writing today? Should ethics be involved?

Just some of the things that the film started me wondering about.

Ann

Ann

Quote :

Should ethics be involved?

James) You should ask that?

What kind of story would ensue when that question is on the table?

If you wrote the story, and if ethics was on the table - I would make note of the author and highlight and delete

James
/

James, why do I keep getting the feeling that we speak a different language?

Maybe we should begin by defining ethics.

Ann

I would like to be presented with the facts and be allowed to form my own opinions.

I am bothered by the prevalence of uneducated opinions spewed forth non-stop by the news media now.

A commentator should have credentials, not just be a blow heart. Just me.






James, Your response lacked in charm and civility.

Alice, you are so right about the lack of objectivity today, I think.

The film made the point that many newspapers are being bought up by large corporations. I cannot help but wonder if there is a connection to that circumstance and the increased politicalization of the news.

I miss Dick. I would love to hear what he might have said.

Ann

Ann

Quote :

James, why do I keep getting the feeling that we speak a different language?

James) (ethics) morality (morality) conscience, honesty, integrity

There is just one language, IMO and it is summed up in one word - integrity

//

James,

Ann is full of morality, conscience, honesty and integrity.

Ann

I, too would like to hear Dick's opinion and Lane's also. Both newsmen would be horrified by what we have now.

Dick would dismiss much of what James says and not comment on his posts. Likewise Lane.

Ann, did you see Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268978/combined

"The Only Thing Greater Than the Power of the Mind is the Courage of the Heart."

It is very difficult to find any factual reporting anywhere. Everything is controlled by some hidden corporate entity with its own profit-making agenda, even my favorite, formerly nonbiased sources.

While the Internet offers opportunities for facts, it is also full of people like us with opinions peppered with facts. It's easy to find some piece at Yahoo or MSN or AOL or Google that rings in tune with one's own ideas and accept the validation as fact.

I do believe that the Internet will become the focal point for all information. It is being incorporated in televisions and will likely be on our walls like Big Brother in the sci fi flicks where all information regarding our lives is available to us through our little ear plug and/or eyeglass computer that operates as the cell phone gizmo for talking, pictures and communicating with our home monitor.

It's close to that already with smart phones and aps and new stuff coming out that links the phone, the television, the computer and even the toaster (I kid you not). It's mind boggling.

In the meantime, there'll be some dissonance as we try to muddle through the hyperbole and separate the commentary from fact. I feel that the only real news on television is the occasional special where multiple representatives of multiple points of view share their views peppered with facts. Notice, they are still sharing their views.

Textbooks on anything current might as well be trashed. In fact, the Big Brother will be doing the educating as well.

Enuf.

Shelagh,

Yes, I did. It is a beautiful story.

DK,

Have you seen "State of Play"? It really digs into what you just said.

Alice,

Thank yew fur yer support.

Ann

No, but I am sure I would like to.

It is difficult to find unbiased scources even on the internet.
I think in some way it becomes easier for the truth to be twisted.
The internet is a realm where laws that control the news papers have little influence. So the integrity of what is published cannot be preserved or defended.
We so often forget the positive aspects of a legal system that regulates publishing, even though we know corruption sometimes manifests itself there as well.