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Breaking Silence: The Journalist's Responsibility |
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Written by Andrea Price
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Thursday, 07 November 2002 |
 This panel discussion, presented by Congregation Shaarey Tefilla, focuses on the role of the media in breaking silence and the current trends affecting news reporting.
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| | "It's more profit driven now....They're afraid of losing market share. So they want to give people what they want. I think we lose something when they give us what we want instead of telling us what the truth is." | James Patterson,
Editorial Writer and Columnist
Indianapolis Star | 
| "I really want... people to be smart media consumers... Look at all different kinds of channels. Read all different kinds of newspapers. Do your research."
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| Rae Kridel,
Professor
IU School of Journalism |
Discussion topics include:
- Local vs. national and international news coverage
- The influence of advertisers, surveys and profit pressures on news content
- Newspapers vs. the internet vs. broadcast media
- Religious, ethnic, racial and gender stereotypes
- Objective reporting vs. "news analysis"
- The shrinking newspaper
- Youth media literacy
Rae Kridel, a Professor at the Indiana University School of Journalism, opens the discussion with clips from Brian Springer's documentary, SPIN, that exposes the "media constructed reality" of the 1992 Presidential elections using raw satellite feeds. Later explaining why she showed these clips Kridel explains, "I really want... people to be smart media consumers. I don't want them to just watch one channel all the time or read one newspaper all the time and believe everything that's told to them because, remember this is fundamentally a business, and that business probably has an agenda that reflects what they want to happen. Be Smart Look at all different kinds of channels. Read all different kinds of newspapers. Do your research."
Joining Kridel on the panel are James Patterson, Editorial Writer and Columnist with the Indianapolis Star, and Patrick Sanders, Editor of the Anderson Herald. Sponsor: Additional Online Resources: - Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
- Free Press' Media Reform Network
- SPIN: Using the 1992 presidential election as his springboard, documentary filmmaker Brian Springer captures the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of politicians and newscasters in the early 1990s. Pat Robertson banters about "homos," Al Gore learns how to avoid abortion questions, George Bush talks to Larry King about halcyon -- all presuming they're off camera. Composed of 100% unauthorized satellite footage, Spin is a surreal expose of media-constructed reality.
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