As the adviser to a college student newspaper, part of my job is to teach students how to cover stories for the mass media. As you might guess, that can become quite a daunting task, especially when you throw in ethics.
Recently, an adviser colleague found ethics to be even more daunting than usual as she contemplated hiring a student who was part of the gay community. This student was active in the gay community, and the adviser was concerned about the student's ability to objectively cover issues related to the gay community.
A variety of other advisers chimed in saying how involvement in an organization means that a person cannot be objective in covering the organization.
My response was immediate.
As a journalist and a professor who teaches journalism, I have had the philosophy that wrapping yourself in the flag of objectivity is ridiculous if you are a journalist. Objectivity is an ideal, not a reality.
It's better to understand your biases and work to maintain fairness and balance. The ideal of objectivity just leads to biased coverage and lack of context, which is what most people complain about when they roast the media. This is the context in which my response began, but it is also based on my belief that the white, male view of news is just plain biased. And the white, male view of journalism is what my colleague got from the variety of other advisers who offered their advice.
The reality of covering news is that gay journalists have a better understanding of the gay community; Hispanic journalists have a better understanding of the Hispanic community, African-American journalists have a better understanding of the African-American community, etc., etc. You get the point. People from the community are also more likely to speech to folks who understand them--people who are like them. We use this understanding of people in research by trying to match subjects and researchers based on gender, age, ethnicity and race. It just makes sense.
Today's media would benefit from looking at things differently. Embrace the different points of view of groups who could expand coverage, expand thinking and expand the media market. Seems like something today's media really need--expanded markets. After all, narrow thinking has left the media grappling to stay alive. Isn't it time they were maybe a little more relevant?
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Showing posts with label community. Show all posts
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Social Animal Syndrome: New Media Ideas from History
I just finished re-reading the book From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman and was struck by several parts of the book. One part in particular discredited the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes. In Leviathan Friedman quotes Hobbes regarding the "state of nature:"
...."where every man is enemy to every man...there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain....and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Notice the solitary aspect of Hobbes' assertion.
But what Friedman noticed in Beirut was that no matter how awful things got, people didn't become solitary beings. They reached out to each other, and as Friedman said, "Rather the behavior of Beirutis suggested that man's natural state is as a social animal who will do everything he can to seek out and create community and structures when the larger government or society disappears." The idea of making order out of chaos.
Friedman continued with his assertion that when government in Beirut failed, people turned to microsocieties based on religion, culture, geography, family ties, and other ties that bind people together. In short, people searched for ways they were alike.
This idea plays into the community that can be created using new media and/or social media. We, as communicators, focus on the ties that bind our constituents together, and send our message to those communities. In a sense, we create our own little societies based on our interests, our family, our religion, our culture, our whatever--insert your favorite thing here. That's why you can find whole websites devoted to Star Wars, Star Trek and other "cult-like" phenomena. In essence, we're all just trying to find people we can talk to and understand us, at least on some level.
I guess if you think about this from a physical and psychological standpoint, you can look at the need for babies to maintain physical interaction and nurturing to sustain their growth and development. As adults, we seem to be no different. Physical interaction and nurturing are essential elements to a healthy life. So what does this have to do with communication?
Segmentation and differentiation. As communicators, we need to segment or differentiate our audiences based on their differences and commonalities. It's easy to appeal to differences to drive wedges between people, but the commonalities upon which we develop communities, whether they are based on geography or shared interests, make people more likely to listen to and act on messages that impact them. And that's how new media can learn from history.
...."where every man is enemy to every man...there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain....and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Notice the solitary aspect of Hobbes' assertion.
But what Friedman noticed in Beirut was that no matter how awful things got, people didn't become solitary beings. They reached out to each other, and as Friedman said, "Rather the behavior of Beirutis suggested that man's natural state is as a social animal who will do everything he can to seek out and create community and structures when the larger government or society disappears." The idea of making order out of chaos.
Friedman continued with his assertion that when government in Beirut failed, people turned to microsocieties based on religion, culture, geography, family ties, and other ties that bind people together. In short, people searched for ways they were alike.
This idea plays into the community that can be created using new media and/or social media. We, as communicators, focus on the ties that bind our constituents together, and send our message to those communities. In a sense, we create our own little societies based on our interests, our family, our religion, our culture, our whatever--insert your favorite thing here. That's why you can find whole websites devoted to Star Wars, Star Trek and other "cult-like" phenomena. In essence, we're all just trying to find people we can talk to and understand us, at least on some level.
I guess if you think about this from a physical and psychological standpoint, you can look at the need for babies to maintain physical interaction and nurturing to sustain their growth and development. As adults, we seem to be no different. Physical interaction and nurturing are essential elements to a healthy life. So what does this have to do with communication?
Segmentation and differentiation. As communicators, we need to segment or differentiate our audiences based on their differences and commonalities. It's easy to appeal to differences to drive wedges between people, but the commonalities upon which we develop communities, whether they are based on geography or shared interests, make people more likely to listen to and act on messages that impact them. And that's how new media can learn from history.
Friday, April 10, 2009
My Network, My Community
In reviewing my blog feeds today, I found this gem from Seth Godin at his blog.
Reminds me of an experience that I had yesterday. I attended the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Conference in Dallas, where I volunteered to help with the live news contest. It's an event where students gather to report on a manufactured story, and the best reporting wins.
Standing in front of a crowd of 75-80 student reporters and photographers, I was a bit overwhelmed. Even though these were members of my community, here I was about to "perform" before them and become controversial. I had planned a live news event that would test their sense of objectivity and in the end, vilify me. I even wrote about this briefly in my Facebook account, where another segment of my community embraces me and serves as my network.
Standing outside of the community of journalists was strange. Condemning them and espousing rhetoric in total opposition to what I believe and what I teach was even stranger, but in the end, it has strengthened my network. From this experience, I have been able to build a common bridge with people in my Facebook community and advisers at the contest. I suspect that I will also be able to build a bridge to students who participated in the contest or heard about it.
The point being, commonality and difference can create bridges. Most lead to community and an expanded network, but some lead to nowhere. In the end, the things that we do, the organizations that we belong to are all about the people, the community and the network. Now I believe I can leverage this experience at TIPA to build bridges and create connections where none existed. I can only guess where this might lead.
Reminds me of an experience that I had yesterday. I attended the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Conference in Dallas, where I volunteered to help with the live news contest. It's an event where students gather to report on a manufactured story, and the best reporting wins.
Standing in front of a crowd of 75-80 student reporters and photographers, I was a bit overwhelmed. Even though these were members of my community, here I was about to "perform" before them and become controversial. I had planned a live news event that would test their sense of objectivity and in the end, vilify me. I even wrote about this briefly in my Facebook account, where another segment of my community embraces me and serves as my network.
Standing outside of the community of journalists was strange. Condemning them and espousing rhetoric in total opposition to what I believe and what I teach was even stranger, but in the end, it has strengthened my network. From this experience, I have been able to build a common bridge with people in my Facebook community and advisers at the contest. I suspect that I will also be able to build a bridge to students who participated in the contest or heard about it.
The point being, commonality and difference can create bridges. Most lead to community and an expanded network, but some lead to nowhere. In the end, the things that we do, the organizations that we belong to are all about the people, the community and the network. Now I believe I can leverage this experience at TIPA to build bridges and create connections where none existed. I can only guess where this might lead.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The Community You Know
Last week during Spring Break, I made a trip back to my hometown, the community I know. Or maybe it is the community who knows me. It seemed surreal since I ran into people I had worked with many years ago when I was a reporter. They were a bit older, and of course, so am I, but they really hadn't changed.
Because we shared something for several years, we had a common bond, and that common bond made it easy to talk, share and catch up on what life has handed us. But in talking with these people who had been such an integral part of my life in the 1990s, I discovered that I had changed.
While we will always have our shared experiences, our lives have diverged. I no longer live in the small town where I grew up, and I no longer have those shared experiences. Now, my experiences involve a different city and a different way of life.
Sometimes when I go back to the town where I grew up, I fondly remember the community that I had then. It was a bustling hub of newspaper, softball, city, county, College Station, Bryan and Texas A and M connections. But when I return home I realize that I have just as much bustle in my life and just as much community.
This week, I attended an IABC Fort Worth professional meeting with some students, and we were welcomed with open arms to the community of communicators. It felt just like "old home," so I sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the company of my current community.
What this says to me is I guess your level of comfort is in direct proportion to how well you know the community and how well the community knows you, no matter how close or far away that community might be.
Because we shared something for several years, we had a common bond, and that common bond made it easy to talk, share and catch up on what life has handed us. But in talking with these people who had been such an integral part of my life in the 1990s, I discovered that I had changed.
While we will always have our shared experiences, our lives have diverged. I no longer live in the small town where I grew up, and I no longer have those shared experiences. Now, my experiences involve a different city and a different way of life.
Sometimes when I go back to the town where I grew up, I fondly remember the community that I had then. It was a bustling hub of newspaper, softball, city, county, College Station, Bryan and Texas A and M connections. But when I return home I realize that I have just as much bustle in my life and just as much community.
This week, I attended an IABC Fort Worth professional meeting with some students, and we were welcomed with open arms to the community of communicators. It felt just like "old home," so I sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the company of my current community.
What this says to me is I guess your level of comfort is in direct proportion to how well you know the community and how well the community knows you, no matter how close or far away that community might be.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Getting Enmeshed in the Web
I just finished an article for PR Strategist co-written with Dr. Amy Collier. The article was about using wikis in public relations, and we are the experts.
Here's the funny thing: I just began working with wikis, and public relations isn't my first profession in mass communication. I'm a trained reporter and editor. So how can I write this article and be considered an expert? Well believe it or not, it's all about community.
In the Parker J. Palmer book that I'm reading, The Courage to Teach, Palmer talks about how getting enmeshed in the web of life creates community. He also talks about how we can only create knowledge or truth in this community-like setting.
For me that means, I can wallow around in the world of wikis, and with the help of my co-author, Dr. Collier, I can discover truth--in this case how to use wikis in public relations.
When I've wallowed around in the world of anything on my own, I've found it difficult to make connections with truth or knowledge. There's just too much out there for me to discover and make sense of on my own.
It's only through getting enmeshed in the web of community and depending on someone else to help guide my journey that I've encountered a little piece of truth and produced a little bit of knowledge. That's a pretty strong endorsement of collaboration from my perspective. And a pretty strong endorsement for seeking and using communal knowledge.
Here's the funny thing: I just began working with wikis, and public relations isn't my first profession in mass communication. I'm a trained reporter and editor. So how can I write this article and be considered an expert? Well believe it or not, it's all about community.
In the Parker J. Palmer book that I'm reading, The Courage to Teach, Palmer talks about how getting enmeshed in the web of life creates community. He also talks about how we can only create knowledge or truth in this community-like setting.
For me that means, I can wallow around in the world of wikis, and with the help of my co-author, Dr. Collier, I can discover truth--in this case how to use wikis in public relations.
When I've wallowed around in the world of anything on my own, I've found it difficult to make connections with truth or knowledge. There's just too much out there for me to discover and make sense of on my own.
It's only through getting enmeshed in the web of community and depending on someone else to help guide my journey that I've encountered a little piece of truth and produced a little bit of knowledge. That's a pretty strong endorsement of collaboration from my perspective. And a pretty strong endorsement for seeking and using communal knowledge.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Community and Solitude
In reviewing Parker J. Palmer's The Courage to Teach, it became clearer to me how the two concepts of community and solitude can coexist--both are necessary for survival.
Human beings need community to feel a part of something greater than themselves, to connect on a more intimate level with others, to feel needed, wanted and loved. These are all good things. But you can get too much of a good thing.
Just as too much chocolate can make you sick, too much community can make you sick too.
Have you ever heard yourself saying, "I'm tired of people"? Or maybe it was more like, "I'm sick and tired of people!"? Sometimes the things we say in exasperation or frustration are really the things we feel, no matter how bad they sound or seem. Sometimes, we just need to be left alone.
There's nothing wrong with wanting or craving solitude. There's nothing wrong with wanting or craving community. Sometimes I forget that these two paradoxes exist in the same human being--me, you, everyone.
So while creating community and fostering community is important and necessary for a successful business and a successful life, don't forget to create and foster yourself. You can have community and solitude, but go easy on the chocolate.
Human beings need community to feel a part of something greater than themselves, to connect on a more intimate level with others, to feel needed, wanted and loved. These are all good things. But you can get too much of a good thing.
Just as too much chocolate can make you sick, too much community can make you sick too.
Have you ever heard yourself saying, "I'm tired of people"? Or maybe it was more like, "I'm sick and tired of people!"? Sometimes the things we say in exasperation or frustration are really the things we feel, no matter how bad they sound or seem. Sometimes, we just need to be left alone.
There's nothing wrong with wanting or craving solitude. There's nothing wrong with wanting or craving community. Sometimes I forget that these two paradoxes exist in the same human being--me, you, everyone.
So while creating community and fostering community is important and necessary for a successful business and a successful life, don't forget to create and foster yourself. You can have community and solitude, but go easy on the chocolate.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I'm Creating Community. I'm Using a Tool.
In her post to the PRSA blog ComPRehension, Corinne Weisgerberger discusses those two statements in relation to social media. Weisgerberger has been teaching a Social Media class and made the discovery that students had a hard time connecting social media with the concept of anything other than creating community.
This is an interesting observation, and one that I've noticed not just among students, but among everyone--creating artificial barriers. I use Facebook to connect to community. I use MySpace to connect to community. I use LinkedIn to connect to community, and so on and so one. But I also use these social media TOOLS. And sometimes I don't use them in the way that most public relations people would use them.
In preparing for a presentation at the end of this week, I have made a discovery: We all need to change our way of thinking.
Book after book after book that I have read focuses on this concept--the innate desire from people to connect with other people. The creation of community or rather the desire to create community is something that we all have, which is why Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, et al have become so popular. You're able to create a virtual community. You're able to reach out and make that connection that we all long for.
How does this affect public relations? Well we have seemed to be stuck in the mode of this tool is for that purpose, and this tool is for that purpose, not bearing in mind that tools can be multipurposed. This requires a change in thinking--a lifting of the barriers.
If you think about social media as a tool that allows you to create community, the possibilities are endless on how that may occur. If you think about social media as one or the other, a tool or a place to create community, you've placed an artificial limit on the tool and the community.
This is an interesting observation, and one that I've noticed not just among students, but among everyone--creating artificial barriers. I use Facebook to connect to community. I use MySpace to connect to community. I use LinkedIn to connect to community, and so on and so one. But I also use these social media TOOLS. And sometimes I don't use them in the way that most public relations people would use them.
In preparing for a presentation at the end of this week, I have made a discovery: We all need to change our way of thinking.
Book after book after book that I have read focuses on this concept--the innate desire from people to connect with other people. The creation of community or rather the desire to create community is something that we all have, which is why Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, et al have become so popular. You're able to create a virtual community. You're able to reach out and make that connection that we all long for.
How does this affect public relations? Well we have seemed to be stuck in the mode of this tool is for that purpose, and this tool is for that purpose, not bearing in mind that tools can be multipurposed. This requires a change in thinking--a lifting of the barriers.
If you think about social media as a tool that allows you to create community, the possibilities are endless on how that may occur. If you think about social media as one or the other, a tool or a place to create community, you've placed an artificial limit on the tool and the community.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
What is community?
Many years ago, when I was a budding young journalist, I had a newspaper column called "Kay's Copy." I guess this is a modern-day version of that, except that now, I'm a budding, but not so young, assistant professor, and I'm interested in studying the idea of community. I hope that this blog provides other people a place to talk about community, question the idea of community, define community and hopefully create community. So while this is officially my "community," I certainly hope that you'll join.
--Dr. Kay L. Colley
--Dr. Kay L. Colley
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