Narrow Definitions of Objectivity Kill Media, Reduce Minority Community Coverage

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?

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.

Twello Ladies and Gentlemen

Pardon my pun, but I needed something to catch your attention.

It seems that new media has struck College Media Advisers throughout the CMA Summer Workshop, but especially after a particularly fun-filled and information-filled session at the Poynter Institute yesterday. When I returned to the room, I was much too fried to give any of the new information a try, but I have since gone to Twitter's version of the Yellow Pages, Twello, and registered. It seems that every day launches at least one new application that can be added onto Twitter.

Those naysayers of social media will be clucking their disdain right about now, saying that Twitter is just a flash in the pan. But with almost an 800% increase in members in the last year, it's a mighty flash indeed. By the way, got my figures from Ellyn Angelotti of the Poynter Institute. What an impressive young woman, who introduced the lot of us (45 new and experienced media advisers) to the new news cycle. Some people are kicking and screaming, while railing against the changing news environment. Others are embracing with some reckless abandon. I say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Thus my addition of Twello.

If you haven't been dabling in the new media and social networking, what's taking you so long? Follow me on Twitter @kaycolley, and use Twello as a great resource to find folks who might share similar interests. Creating community by finding folks who share your interests or your values is the best way to introduce yourself to social media. After all, it's hard to talk when you don't have something in common, which is why we commune with similar folks. See you on Twello soon!

Things Are Heating Up: Convergence and Social Media Workshop

It's a hot one in Texas this time of year, but this year, it's especially hot.

Several days of 100+ temperatures and no rain were brutal, but apparently not enough, as my air conditioner decided to call it quits for a couple of days this week.

Air conditioning issues followed me to DFW airport on Saturday and afflicted my plane to Tampa.

I've interrupted my summer break to attend a workshop in St. Petersburg, Florida, this week. What better way to learn about what's the latest in journalism than by taking advantage of the great minds at the Poynter Institute and College Media Advisers.

I was finally able to cool off in the room at St. Pete after shooting this video of the beach directly behind my hotel. OK, so a little discomfort was worth it...

Stay tuned this week as I post to my blog, twitter and Facebook, the cool and cutting edge information I learn about convergence media and social media. But first, enjoy the beach!

Home Sweet Home

I just came back from my mother's farm and videotaped this wonderful sunset. While this is where I grew up, I've moved from the Home Sweet Home mentality to Home is Where the Heart Is mentality. I challenge you to discover the difference, because there is one. I'd love to hear what you think it is...

Summertime Begins

(Cue music...)Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime...

If you're a faculty member in higher education, that's the song you're probably singing right about now. Unless you're one of the unlucky few who is teaching summer school. But this year, I'm one of the few, the proud, the off all summer.

Unfortunately, I've discovered recently that being off isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I sat down and compiled a list of things I'd like to get done this summer, and there's not enough summer to get it all done!

So here are my top 10 items. If you think something should be added, feel free to comment.

1. Submit my research for publication.
2. Map out at least two more articles for publication.
3. Submit article to SWECJMC for fall presentation.
4. Submit article to CMA research contest.
5. Update my blog weekly--see I didn't forget you!
6. Paint the shed.
7. Paint the fence.
8. Go to St. Petersburg, FL for CMA Workshop.
9. Take weekend trips often--how do you define often?
10. Prepare Rambler for Multimedia conversion.

Here's hoping for a successful summer!

In My Tribe: Communication Commentary

Yeah, yeah. That's the name of an album, but I'll bet you don't remember the Communication Commentary part. That's because it wasn't there.

In my tribe, which today I'm defining as Communication at Texas Wesleyan, I have learned something this week. Take a deep breath. Listen.

Another crazy week in academia has me wondering just why is it that people get so tense around this time of year? I know the answer, but if you'd like to let me know what your issues are, I'd be happy to listen. However, for the rest of the semester I'm going to do what I learned: Take a deep breath and listen.

The reason I've learned this now in particular is because it is so tense this time of year. I feel pressure; my students feel pressure; everyone on campus feels pressure, and it's rising to a level of explosion, which is why I'm going to take a deep breath and listen.

I learned this lesson several years ago when I received a flame from a student. I flamed right back and felt really bad about it later. The student felt even worse. After that, I decided that any e-mail from anyone that sounded like a flame from the subject line, read like a flame from the first sentence and had lots of exclamation points needed to be thrown in the trash. It served me no purpose, and it served the student no purpose. So that's what I've done. Easy fix for e-mails, but in person flames....that's a bit different. Which is why I've decided to take a deep breath and and listen. While I may not be able to delete the person in front of me flaming, at least I can work to lower my blood pressure and avoid snide comebacks that are full of defensiveness and venom.

So everyone, let me encourage you to take a deep breath and listen. The flame you put out may be your own.