Journalism Notes

Bias in my News Sources:

 

Text	Emotive Language  (words which have connotations which appeal  to our emotions)	Euphemisms (words that make unpleasant things sound milder/less offensive)	Vague Language (words which could mean different things to different readers)
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/indian-farmers-protest-goes-international	“The crackdown by the Indian authorities”	“the government’s tough talk as well as action” “with farmers clashing with police”	“The farmers have been protesting for two months against new laws that they say do not benefit them”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/rihanna-tweet-india-farmers-protest-14111178 Extra: Targetted towards a non-Indian audience. Chose to capture the attention of people using a non-India celebrity	Tens of thousands of farmers have been hunkering down at the Indian capital’s fringes to protest new agricultural laws they say will leave them poorer and at the mercy of corporations.	“It is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them,” India’s foreign ministry
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/haryana-farmers-protest-strategy-explained-7202166/	With a deep-rooted sentiment among the farmers that the struggle is meant to “save their land”, while terming it their “mother”, they seem committed to continue their agitation.	This agitation has become a mass movement now,” said S K Goyal	These dharnas are full of color.
https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/farmers-protest-indias-jats-may-be-finally-turning-against-the-bjp-1.77381515	he only thing that BJP takes seriously is the electoral maths and winning at all costs. Because they are a dominant community, the Jats exercise a massive influence on the vote specially with the Khaps laying down the law and using social boycott as a weapon in the villages. Every leader in India knows this which is why the Jats are treated with kid gloves. BJP tried gloves-are-off move and has found it painful.	A social boycott	Not much vague language

• Straightstimes
  • heavily censored
• New york times
  • liberal
  • catered to an American audience, international stories aren’t given as much attention
• Mothership
  • Not as censored
  • Biased towards Singapore, most stories are of Singapore

 

In the modern media landscape, what issues do we face as a global society with regards to journalism, bias, and freedom of expression, and what does future news reporting look like?

The digitalization of journalism is responsible for several changes in the role news plays in our society. First of all, the introduction of the internet has made information far more assessable. Now, people can read about events just minutes after they occur. As well as that, people now have a much wider range of news sources they can go to. Whilst the expansion of choice may seem like brainwashing and propaganda will be phased out, readers tend to stick to news sources with similar values to them. If anything, the expansion of choice has facilitated the creation of political “echo-chambers” in the media.

Another shortcoming is the concept of “fake news.” The numerous news sources available have varying budgets and intentions. For many reasons, the news reported is often incorrect. Because journalism is such a competitive field, journalists often have to choose to publish a story as fast as possible rather than publishing a story that has evaluated all perspectives and has the most reliable sources.

It is hard for me to predict the future of journalism. Whilst it is still so essential to the stability and order of our society today, information is often spread faster than journalism can keep up with. For example, often when an event occurs, first-hand videos of it spread on the internet. In these scenarios, there isn’t much of a need for a journalist to be the middle man and present the information.

If the job of a journalist is meant to report news in the most objective and unbiased way possible, what pressures are on journalists which might make this difficult to achieve?

• Censorship from higher authorities
  • eg. governments, sponsors
  • corruption
• Profit motivation
  • Articles with the most viewership may get priority over the most important or pressing articles
• Time constraints
  • Journalism is a competitive field
  • The choice between the most thoughtful, well-researched article vs the one that is released first
• Bias is unavoidable
  • It is impossible for journalists to be 100% unbiased
  • Even if all the facts present are true, some facts may be omitted
• Consumer-driven
  • rise of digital news
  • now there is a need to capture attention

The Connection between Bias and Censorship:
Media companies often have set values that journalists must follow. Readers normally read from sources with similar values. Pushes you to be more radical