Today:Politics and Celebrities.

Is this an issue facing journalism?

How do you know?• Is it legal?

How do you know?• Is it legal?• Is it newsworthy?

• Relevance?

• Conflict/ controversy/ disaster?

• Human interest?

• Unusualness?

• Impact?

• Proximity?

• Prominence?

• Timeliness?

How do you know?• Is it legal?• Is it newsworthy?

• Relevance?

• Conflict/ controversy/ disaster?

• Human interest?

• Unusualness?

• Impact?

• Proximity?

• Prominence?

• Timeliness?

• Did the journalists follow the principles of journalism?

Principles of Journalism?• Is it true? Has it been

verified?• Is it helping citizens? Are

the citizens involved?• Is it independent? Are they

monitoring power?• Is it comprehensive?• Are they creating a public

forum?• Did they make the

significant interesting?• Did they have a

conscience?

Was the talk about the bow a distraction from what happened on the Asian tour?

Was the talk about the bow a distraction from what happened on the Asian tour?

• President Obama said he would visit the sites where the atomic bombs were dropped.

• America owes China $800 billion. China is the largest single holder of American debt.

• Obama condemned the Burmese junta and called for Democracy in Myanmar.

Does it matter?

The Fourth Estate.

The Fourth Estate.Executive.

Legislative.

Judicial.

The Fourth Estate.Executive.

Legislative.

Judicial.

Journalists.

Agenda setting.

Agenda setting.

The media don’t tell people what to think.

They tell them what to think aboutThey tell them what to think about.

Agenda setting.

The president of the United States was meeting with leaders in China, the United

States’ largest financial backer.

Agenda setting.

FramingFraming:

The media don’t tell people what to think.

But they do shape how people see issuesshape how people see issues.

FramingFraming: shaping how the audience sees reality.

StonewallingStonewalling: avoiding questions.

Media coverage tends to focus on leadersleaders.

Audiences like to attach a face to the news - good or bad, so the leaders often get face time.

Other media obsessions:

• ConflictConflict: Why? Conflict is change, and therefore newsworthy. Also, covering conflict is easier - reacting is easier than being pro-active.

• ScandalsScandals: sex sells (or so they think).

• Horse racesHorse races: campaign polls.

• Brevity: short stories. Why? The belief is that we all have ADD.

What does it mean to be a political reporter?

• Just like sports reporters are assigned to teams, political writers have a beatbeat.

• Anything that happens on your beat is your responsibility to cover.

• Attend press conferencespress conferences, meet with sources (in government and out), search through documents, etc.

• Often, political writers are assigned to local, state or federal beats.

The best political reporters …

• Are non-partisannon-partisan, and they strive for objectivity.

• Are informed about the constituencyconstituency served by the government they cover.

• Are informed about the historyhistory of their beat.

• Know how to get information … from people, databases, books, everywhere.

• Are skepticalskeptical but not cynical or jaded.

Has Sarah Palin been treated fairly by the media?

Has Sarah Palin been treated fairly by the media?

• What do you know about her?

Has Sarah Palin been treated fairly by the media?

• What do you know about her?

• What is your impression of her?

Has Sarah Palin been treated fairly by the media?

• What do you know about her?

• What is your impression of her?

• Do you see the agenda setting and framing?

Is Sarah Palin a politician or

celebrity?

Is Sarah Palin a politician or

celebrity?

Politicians are a part of our popular culturepopular culture.

Appearing on non-political programs humanizes politicians.

It works the other way around, too.

Our celebrities have turned their notoriety into

political power.

Who will be next?

Who will be next?

Who will be next?

What is a celebritycelebrity?

• Daniel Boorstin (The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, 1961) defined the celebrity as a “person who is known for his [or her] well-knownness.”

• The world of celebrity is one of publicitypublicity.• Recently, publicity is neither good nor

bad, but always beneficial for celebrity status.

Why do we love celebrities?• Fans connect to

celebrities because they are ordinary.

Why do we love celebrities?• Fans connect to

celebrities because they are ordinary.

• Celebrities represent parts of us, both what we want and what we don’t want.

Why do we love celebrities?• Fans connect to

celebrities because they are ordinary.

• Celebrities represent parts of us, both what we want and what we don’t want.

• Journalists play a special role. In reporting, we create characters, and we also create access to personality for fans.

Who qualifies as a celebrity?

• Royalty, and anyone of power (i.e. politicians).

• The elite.• Athletes, actors,

musicians … anyone earning a living in the public spotlight.

• Media personalities.

Do we celebrate

intelligence?

We do celebrate our reality stars.

• What does that say about us as a society?

Are celebrities

newsworthy?

Are celebrities

newsworthy?

• The Associated Press launched Celebrity Extra on August 6, 2008.

Nick Ut photographed Paris Hilton after her sentencing exactly 35 years after photographing the children running from a napalm attack in Vietnam.

Did Nick Ut sell out?

Are celebrities a distraction?

How do you decide what is news and what is distraction?

Newsworthiness criteria and the principles of journalism.

Some people want that information.

Some people want that information.

That qualifies it for coverage.

We just need to be sure that the audience has a marketplace of ideasmarketplace of ideas.

Journalism is a businessJournalism is a business.

Celebrities are our greatest common denominator.

Enjoy the weekend.

On Tuesday: photojournalist Eugene Kane.