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Tag Archives: Journalism
The Cyber Agenda: Politics and the Power of the Internet
Lawrence K. Grossman and James Kinsella participated in a conference at the NHC, “Deliberative Democracy in the Information Age,” part of the American Issues Forum. They “discuss and describe how new technologies such as the Internet, online magazines, and interactive cable systems are replacing our shared experience of the front page, nightly news on TV, and conventional magazines. ” [Wayne Pond]
Grossman is former president of PBS and author of The Electronic Republic: Reshaping American Democracy for the Information Age. At the time of this interview, Kinsella was general manager of MSNBC; he was founder of Time Magazine’s online newsfeed and Time Warner’s Pathfinder.
Posted in Episodes
Tagged Art, Computers, Humanities, Internet, Journalism, Television
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Civic Journalism & Cyberspace
An opinion that even though the flow of information in our society has never been greater, journalism in America has surrendered the high ground of serious reporting to entertainment, hasty analysis, and poor research. However, because of new technologies such as the Internet and the World Wide Web, the potential for creating the electronic equivalent of the public square has never been better.
Computing Culture
Tom Johnson discusses computers, privacy, and journalism. Steven Levy discusses his new book, Artificial Life (Pantheon).
TV’s Power and Price
The holy wars of television evangelists have recently focused public attention on religious broadcasting. According to Mimi White, religion on television clearly differs from mainstream programming, but the two forms share an important similarity–therapy, or an emphasis on interpersonal relationships. According to Robert Stam and John Fiske, among the pleasures for viewers of TV journalism is an empowering and ubiquitous perspective on world and local events. But this perspective is an illusion of security reinforced daily at the dinner hour by “a happy family of broadcasters.”
All three speakers participated in a symposium on television and history at the NHC in 1987. White taught in areas of radio, television, and film at Northwestern University. Fiske taught communication arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Stam taught cinema studies at New York University.
International Journalism
Among the pitfalls of international journalism are disinformation, the licensing of journalists, journalism enlisted in ideological causes, and the homogenization of international journalism. How is the world press responding to these issues, and with what results?
Newspapers and Ethics
What are the ethical responsibilities of American journalism? In practical terms, who wears the burden for these responsibilities–editors or publishers? According to Philip Meyer, editors and publishers generally agree on the substance of most ethical issues. They are less likely to agree. however, on the procedures for resolving ethical issues or even on who at newspapers should participate in that resolution.
Journalism and Literature Part 2
Hugh Holman, Vermont Royster, and Edwin Yoder convened at the NHC for the second part of a discussion on journalism and literature, focusing on objectivity and accuracy, the nature of reporting and the news, and the intersections of journalism and fiction. At the time of this interview, Holman was professor at the University of North Carolina, Royster was former editor of the Wall Street Journal, and Yoder, a Pulitzer Prize winner, was the editorial page editor of the Washington Star.
Journalism and Literature Part 1
C. Hugh Holman, Vermont C. Royster, and Edwin Yoder discuss the similarities and the disparities between journalism and literature. They describe the common roots shared by journalism and literary artistry, noting that both attempt to create records of events – some reliable, some others deliberately unreliable. Providing examples of noteworthy writers whose careers began in journalism, the discussion turns to qualities in style and convention that differentiate journalism and literature and that ensure their aesthetic endurance or journalistic accuracy.
At the time of this interview, Holman was Kenan Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; he was a Trustee of the National Humanities Center. Royster was editor emeritus of The Wall Street Journal and also a Trustee of the Center. Yoder was a syndicated columnist for The Washington Post Writers’ Group and later a Trustee of the Center.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.