{"id":61,"date":"2005-10-07T15:48:07","date_gmt":"2005-10-07T23:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/?p=61"},"modified":"2016-06-07T16:01:18","modified_gmt":"2016-06-08T00:01:18","slug":"61","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/2005\/10\/07\/61\/","title":{"rendered":"How do we reconcile what\u2019s interesting to the public with what\u2019s in the public interest?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Convener<\/strong>: Melinda Wittstock\/Jan Schaffer<\/p>\n<p><strong>Participants<\/strong>: Linda, Jonathan, Matt, ?, Lisa, Sarah, Stacy, Silja, Karen, Diane, Ken, Cindy, Ralph, Sarah, Florangela, ?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reporter<\/strong>: Florangela<\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-63\" src=\"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/485\/2016\/06\/Public-Interest-1-pg-40-233x300.jpg\" alt=\"Public Interest 1 pg 40\" width=\"409\" height=\"527\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/485\/2016\/06\/Public-Interest-1-pg-40-233x300.jpg 233w, https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/485\/2016\/06\/Public-Interest-1-pg-40-768x989.jpg 768w, https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/485\/2016\/06\/Public-Interest-1-pg-40-795x1024.jpg 795w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 409px) 100vw, 409px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe highest traffic websites are porn sites.<br \/>\n\u201cLook at the appeal of sports.<br \/>\n\u201cPrurient news vs. what is valuable<br \/>\n\u201cI\u2019d argue sports is just as important. It\u2019s part of our culture. It\u2019s what makes us a community.<br \/>\n\u201cWhen we get into trouble is when valuable information gets left out and it\u2019s just entertainment.<\/p>\n<p>Question: What is public service journalism???<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Journalism that helps us see ourselves as human; to see our uniqueness and our similarities with one another. We need to know we\u2019re not alone. Journalism that helps stitch the culture together. Sometimes we\u2019re just holding a mirror to ourselves.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s creating a space for communities to work. It\u2019s giving them information, giving them a way to exchange ideas. It also serves as a watchdog, cultivating fairness and justice.<\/li>\n<li>Our job is to provide information for residents. To allow as many people as possible to participate in civil society.<\/li>\n<li>Providing a diverse amount of information for informed action<\/li>\n<li>It highlights injustices.<\/li>\n<li>The term \u201cpublic\u201d is way too broad.<\/li>\n<li>We can\u2019t commit journalism from on high.<\/li>\n<li>All journalism is public service. Providing information that helps us to make decisions. It\u2019s broad, deep, has depth.<\/li>\n<li>Provides a window into civic life. IE giving access to public events.<\/li>\n<li>It supports and sustains creativity and culture in communities in which it operates. It empowers audiences and it does hold powerful interests accountable.<\/li>\n<li>Look at the work done by Jane Elle Stevens (at the San Jose Mercury News). Look at how the paper reported on individual instances of domestic violence. And then it pulled back, looking at the overall problem. It wasn\u2019t just routine crime reporting. It became a public service<\/li>\n<li>We are charged with asking questions on behalf of people who can\u2019t, who don\u2019t have that access<\/li>\n<li>Transparency. Shining light into dark corners.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Question: Does public service\/public interest journalism have to be cod liver? (dry, boring).<strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-62 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/485\/2016\/06\/Public-Interest-2-pg-41-230x300.jpg\" alt=\"Public Interest 2 pg 41\" width=\"461\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/485\/2016\/06\/Public-Interest-2-pg-41-230x300.jpg 230w, https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/485\/2016\/06\/Public-Interest-2-pg-41-768x1000.jpg 768w, https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/485\/2016\/06\/Public-Interest-2-pg-41-787x1024.jpg 787w, https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/485\/2016\/06\/Public-Interest-2-pg-41.jpg 2046w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s an assumption that if we give people the information that they\u2019ll do the right thing. But I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s always the case. (WMD, Iraq war)<\/p>\n<p>People hear what they want to hear and they see what they want to see.<\/p>\n<p>Do we do things for the outcome?<\/p>\n<p>The best way to approach truth is to have as much information as possible.<\/p>\n<p>There needs to be a forum where all ideas can be debated and really, that is way more important than a specific outcome.<\/p>\n<p>I would hate to lose an institution that gives out good information.<\/p>\n<p>Watch a speech on TV and then read all the news sources and compare how they interpreted it.<br \/>\nIndividuals now have a multitude of sources. We should remember that access to C-Span, etc came about because of public policy decisions.<\/p>\n<p>You can do a story that\u2019s well, that\u2019s captivating, interesting and relative.<\/p>\n<p>Is there a crisis in Journalism? I\u2019d say yes. And No. Some of these same questions were being asked in the \u201870s.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the profession: we\u2019re always critical, we always have two halves to every story. But I\u2019d argue that morale is worse today. People are worried about their livelihood.<\/p>\n<p>Question: Why is news focused on process of politics instead of the issues.<br \/>\nHow do you create a demand for that stuff?<\/p>\n<p>A key is to reverse the drive towards ownership consolidation. (And look at how the media wasn\u2019t even covering that subject). Bigger corporations have increased economic pressures and are more distant from the communities they cover.<\/p>\n<p>Is public interest journalism ratings-adverse?<\/p>\n<p>You gotta have the bottom line because otherwise you won\u2019t have the newspaper\/station, etc.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve never had someone dictate what I could\/could not cover.<\/p>\n<p>Financial pressures retard good journalism.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no One public.<\/p>\n<p>Beat reporters are very process driven but our whole structure of journalism is to document incrementally.<br \/>\nJournalism needs to be much quicker to connect the dots, to give context of a story.<\/p>\n<p>Be aware of where the public interest is and contextualize it.<\/p>\n<p>But ability to think in a larger way (different entry points, different way to cover a story, an issue, etc), is constrained by production deadlines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Convener: Melinda Wittstock\/Jan Schaffer Participants: Linda, Jonathan, Matt, ?, Lisa, Sarah, Stacy, Silja, Karen, Diane, Ken, Cindy, Ralph, Sarah, Florangela, ? Reporter: Florangela Discussion \u201cThe highest traffic websites are porn sites. \u201cLook at the appeal of sports. \u201cPrurient news vs. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/2005\/10\/07\/61\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-session-notes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61\/revisions\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journalismthatmatters.org\/kalamazoo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}