Mitchell Stephens
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231159388
- eISBN:
- 9780231536295
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231159388.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This book provides an original, sometimes critical, examination of contemporary journalism, both on- and offline, and proposes a new standard for journalism (wisdom journalism) that brings together ...
More
This book provides an original, sometimes critical, examination of contemporary journalism, both on- and offline, and proposes a new standard for journalism (wisdom journalism) that brings together the more rarified forms of reporting to provide an informed, insightful, interpretive, explanatory, and even opinionated take on current events. The book argues that, for a century and a half, journalists have made a good business out of selling the latest news or selling ads next to that news. Now that news pours out of the Internet and our mobile devices—fast, abundant, and mostly free—that era is ending. Our best journalists, the book suggests, must instead offer original, challenging perspectives—not just slightly more thorough accounts of widely reported events. Most attempts to deal with journalism's current crisis emphasize technology; this book emphasizes mindsets and the need to rethink what journalism has been and might become. The book finds inspiration for a more ambitious and effective understanding of journalism in examples from twenty-first-century articles and blogs, from a selection of outstanding examples of twentieth-century journalism and from Benjamin Franklin's eighteenth-century writings.Less
This book provides an original, sometimes critical, examination of contemporary journalism, both on- and offline, and proposes a new standard for journalism (wisdom journalism) that brings together the more rarified forms of reporting to provide an informed, insightful, interpretive, explanatory, and even opinionated take on current events. The book argues that, for a century and a half, journalists have made a good business out of selling the latest news or selling ads next to that news. Now that news pours out of the Internet and our mobile devices—fast, abundant, and mostly free—that era is ending. Our best journalists, the book suggests, must instead offer original, challenging perspectives—not just slightly more thorough accounts of widely reported events. Most attempts to deal with journalism's current crisis emphasize technology; this book emphasizes mindsets and the need to rethink what journalism has been and might become. The book finds inspiration for a more ambitious and effective understanding of journalism in examples from twenty-first-century articles and blogs, from a selection of outstanding examples of twentieth-century journalism and from Benjamin Franklin's eighteenth-century writings.
Mitchell Stephens
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231159388
- eISBN:
- 9780231536295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231159388.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter calls for a wiser, more ambitious journalism and explains how it might be accomplished. It argues that we need to develop standards to help distinguish wisdom journalism from the shrill ...
More
This chapter calls for a wiser, more ambitious journalism and explains how it might be accomplished. It argues that we need to develop standards to help distinguish wisdom journalism from the shrill and predictable and discusses the consequences of a wiser journalism not only for journalism as a whole, but also for its audiences and our politics. It contends that we must have a change in mindset, together with changes in the way journalism is currently practiced; that the journalism business must consequently become an idea business; and that a considerable amount of new thinking, retraining, and new hiring is required if we are to move from news sites to journalism sites and if we are to achieve more “shimmering intellectual scoops” sites. The chapter also proposes five I's instead of the traditional five W's as guidelines for journalists: “informed,” “intelligent,” “interesting,” “insightful,” and “interpretive.” These five I's ask journalists to focus on more study, more intellection, more discernment, and more originality.Less
This chapter calls for a wiser, more ambitious journalism and explains how it might be accomplished. It argues that we need to develop standards to help distinguish wisdom journalism from the shrill and predictable and discusses the consequences of a wiser journalism not only for journalism as a whole, but also for its audiences and our politics. It contends that we must have a change in mindset, together with changes in the way journalism is currently practiced; that the journalism business must consequently become an idea business; and that a considerable amount of new thinking, retraining, and new hiring is required if we are to move from news sites to journalism sites and if we are to achieve more “shimmering intellectual scoops” sites. The chapter also proposes five I's instead of the traditional five W's as guidelines for journalists: “informed,” “intelligent,” “interesting,” “insightful,” and “interpretive.” These five I's ask journalists to focus on more study, more intellection, more discernment, and more originality.
Mitchell Stephens
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231159388
- eISBN:
- 9780231536295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231159388.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter examines journalism as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson knew it and uses pieces of writing from their day to introduce some standards for distinguishing between successful and ...
More
This chapter examines journalism as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson knew it and uses pieces of writing from their day to introduce some standards for distinguishing between successful and unsuccessful wisdom journalism. It begins with an overview of the history of newspapers in America before turning to Franklin's contributions to the still relatively new phenomenon during his time: the public discussion of issues in print. It then considers the qualities of wisdom journalism that also characterized a tradition of journalism dating back to Franklin, and how journalism might “benefit the reader” and improve “knowledge.” It also discusses the importance of exclusive, enterprising, or investigative reporting and the application of standards from rhetoric and related fields to argumentative journalism. Finally, the chapter explores some considerations that might help us judge the quality of interpretive, argumentative journalism and thereby help explain what does not qualify as wisdom journalism.Less
This chapter examines journalism as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson knew it and uses pieces of writing from their day to introduce some standards for distinguishing between successful and unsuccessful wisdom journalism. It begins with an overview of the history of newspapers in America before turning to Franklin's contributions to the still relatively new phenomenon during his time: the public discussion of issues in print. It then considers the qualities of wisdom journalism that also characterized a tradition of journalism dating back to Franklin, and how journalism might “benefit the reader” and improve “knowledge.” It also discusses the importance of exclusive, enterprising, or investigative reporting and the application of standards from rhetoric and related fields to argumentative journalism. Finally, the chapter explores some considerations that might help us judge the quality of interpretive, argumentative journalism and thereby help explain what does not qualify as wisdom journalism.
Mitchell Stephens
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231159388
- eISBN:
- 9780231536295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231159388.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter examines various types of wisdom journalism. It first considers what kinds of journalism, however interpretive, do not qualify as wisdom journalism and do not point to a future for ...
More
This chapter examines various types of wisdom journalism. It first considers what kinds of journalism, however interpretive, do not qualify as wisdom journalism and do not point to a future for journalism. Some traditional American journalists, partisans of shoe-leather reporting, dismiss interpretive journalism as “thumb sucking”—a lazy alternative to gathering the facts with which they might nourish themselves and their audiences. And it is true that our burgeoning number of networks and our billions of web pages are filled with plenty of unimportant, uninteresting, even inane interpretation. Some can also be found in today's newspapers. But vacuity is not the only problem. Bullheaded, overheated opinion is also hard to avoid on the airwaves and the Web. This chapter analyzes the variety of opinionated journalism that often appears on news outlets such as Fox News Channel and MSNBC. It argues that we need more interpretation, even opinionated interpretation, in journalism today.Less
This chapter examines various types of wisdom journalism. It first considers what kinds of journalism, however interpretive, do not qualify as wisdom journalism and do not point to a future for journalism. Some traditional American journalists, partisans of shoe-leather reporting, dismiss interpretive journalism as “thumb sucking”—a lazy alternative to gathering the facts with which they might nourish themselves and their audiences. And it is true that our burgeoning number of networks and our billions of web pages are filled with plenty of unimportant, uninteresting, even inane interpretation. Some can also be found in today's newspapers. But vacuity is not the only problem. Bullheaded, overheated opinion is also hard to avoid on the airwaves and the Web. This chapter analyzes the variety of opinionated journalism that often appears on news outlets such as Fox News Channel and MSNBC. It argues that we need more interpretation, even opinionated interpretation, in journalism today.
