A Framework for Modern Journalism: Fundamental Themes
THEMES AFFECTING JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
ADAPTED FROM: JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION – Vol. I – Evolution of Journalism and Mass Communication by Kathleen L. Endres1. Introduction
In most developed countries, journalism and mass communication are just the staples of modern life. Newspapers and magazines bring the news of the world as well as the amusements of the day to the doorstep. Radio news and talk programs update the listener at the workplace, in the car, in the home, everywhere. Television links sound with pictures during the regularly scheduled news broadcasts or at any time in the event of breaking news. One click on a web site takes the browser across the world to download a story, a radio program, a song, or a snippet of the latest motion picture. In developed countries, journalism and the many, many messages of mass communication have led to the malaise of modern society—“information overload.” Citizens in developed countries have so much to read, hear, see, and click that it is difficult to process all the information.
Journalism and mass communication are not as plentiful in developing countries. Nonetheless, journalism and mass communication are important to the economic, social, political, and cultural lives of these nations. Some governments attempt to control the content of news and the messages transmitted in the media. Other governments see journalism and mass communication as important partners in economic, political, and social progress of their nations. These governments see journalism and mass communication as allies to progress, ways to educate the population about life, politics, culture, and the economy in a modern world. Still others see the media as a means of cultural domination by the West.
Whether journalism and mass communication are taken for granted—as is the case in the developed countries—or are seen as allies to progress or things to be controlled—as is the case in many of the developing countries—they remain important influences in the social, economic, and political lives of the people in today’s world.
2. Themes Affecting Journalism and Mass Communication
The history of journalism and mass communication is a complicated story. It is written in the history of every country. It is intertwined with the evolution of each culture. It touches the life of every person. From this complex tale emerge five themes.
One theme is technological. Through the centuries, technical innovations—some directly related to journalism and mass communication, others touching on the media only tangentially—have brought increased speed to production and information delivery, reduced costs, improved accuracy, or transformed/improved the product. The technological innovations have not been limited to one country or one culture. All have contributed to the technological state of today’s media.
The second theme deals with ownership patterns. When journalism began, anyone affluent enough to hire a scribe or, later, buy a printing press could run a newspaper or magazine. As technology improved, the price tag for production, programming, and distribution increased. Because the cost of production, programming, and/or distribution increased so dramatically, fewer and fewer could afford to purchase and run newsletters, newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations. Thus, the ownership of the media was concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. In the nineteenth century, journalism and mass communication had become big business in many developed countries. For example, in the United States, the Hearst Corp. and Scripps–Howard, still key media corporations, trace their roots to this time. The twentieth century brought a further concentration of media ownership. Corporations or government agencies now control most of the largest circulating newspapers, and the biggest radio stations, television networks, and programming production houses in the developed world. Digital technology may change this trend. As prices of personal computers and access to the Internet decrease, more individuals can—and do—publish electronically nationally and internationally.
The third theme revolves around the defined audience for the media. Centuries ago, only the literate, moneyed elite could afford the newsletters, newspapers, pamphlets, and magazines; but technology changed that too. With advances in print technology, the price of newspapers and magazines came down. At the same time, changes to layout, design, and writing style made newspapers and magazines more visually appealing, more readable, and more popular with larger numbers of the reading public. Newspapers and magazines truly became forms of mass communication. The “new media” of radio, television, and the movies had enormous popular appeal from their beginnings. However, technology could also take away. By the end of the twentieth century, bigger was not necessarily better. Media researchers, programmers, and advertisers saw technology as a means to reach smaller, “better,” more segmented, affluent audiences. Thus, because of technology, the potential audience of journalism and mass communication has gone from a small moneyed elite to a “mass” audience to a segmented audience, grouped by interest, socio-economic, demographic, and psychographic factors.
Technology also weaves its way through the fourth theme that marked the evolution of journalism and mass communication: the movement toward professionalism. When journalism first began, there were no real performance standards for reporters and editors. The first editors/journalists were little more than propagandists for one particular point of view or political party. They were technicians, individuals trained in the technology current in the day; scribes when newsletters were handwritten; printers when newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets were hand set. As technology became more complex in the nineteenth century, the craft of production split from the content function. It was only then that the editors/journalists could and did slowly develop some of the standards commonly associated with journalism in the developed countries today. Over time, accuracy, fairness, and objectivity became accepted standards in much of the developed world where there is a free exchange of information. Journalists/editors have not always met those standards. In times of war, patriotism and a concern for public morale sometimes curtailed telling the whole story.
During an election, a reporter’s personal views of a candidate or a political party could and did creep into a news story, although not necessarily intentionally. In times of instantaneous reporting and extreme competition, journalists sometimes got the story first—but not necessarily fully or accurately. It is little wonder that the public has become more skeptical of journalism in particular and mass communication in general. That skepticism seems ironic given the changes that have taken place in the training of journalists. Once requiring little more than an ability to write clearly, energy to report the story, and a generally affable personality, journalists are now better trained than ever before. Most journalists entering the field today have university/college educations or special journalistic training. The move toward better education can be seen across the media field. Media executives to technicians all have advanced training to help them deal with the challenges of journalism and mass communication in the twenty-first century.
Finally, opportunities are opening for minorities in journalism and mass communication. When journalism and mass communication began, it was a closed society. Individuals who owned printing presses taught their families the trade and took in others as apprentices. Female relatives and slaves owned by the printer’s family learned the trade, but with the split between the production and editing function, and changes in social expectations, fewer women and minorities were allowed in. Although today males from the dominant cultural/ethnic group of the nation still predominate, diversity in the journalistic workplace is seen as a benefit. By the end of the twentieth century, many media corporations and arms of government that control mass communication are at least articulating the importance of diversity in the newsroom and in entertainment programming, and are beginning to hire from different populations, but primarily on the lower levels. Diverse leadership and ownership in the media continue to be rare.
(Edited for length. Original here.)
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