Hurricane Sandy and Journalism Coverage

With Hurricane Sandy wreaking havoc on the east coast of the United States, two areas of ‘Watchdog Journalism’ that intrigued me were the American value of reestablishing order and the journalism and politics question whether or not journalist should advocate or help the victims of tragedies.  Media are swimming with examples of how journalists are either standing by or taking part in restoring order back to the decimated Atlantic Coast.

                The headline for Tuesday, October 30, 2012’s issue of The New York Times reads “STORM PICKS UP SPEED AND DISRUPTS MILLIONS OF LIVES” (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/us/hurricane-sandy-churns-up-east-coast.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ).  The use of the word “disrupts” especially illustrates their point of order being disrupted.  The next day the headline read “AFTER THE DEVASTATION, A DAUNTING RECOVERY” (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/us/hurricane-sandy-barrels-region-leaving-battered-path.html?pagewanted=all ).  Already many headlines on websites such as Yahoo! are focusing on restoring order in the east.  One headline reads “Storm-hit region faces daunting road ahead” with a ‘heartbreaking’ hotlink to the following article telling of New Jersey’s devastation among other east coast cities (http://news.yahoo.com/airports-stock-exchange-reopen-nj-devastated-142715604--finance.html ).  The article also focuses on the fact that airports and the stock exchange are once again reopened—a sign of order amidst the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.  Another article focuses on officials restoring the transportation systems back to order (http://www.ibtimes.com/hurricane-sandy-nyc-workers-assess-damage-begin-restoring-subway-bus-services-856342 ).  Indeed, Americans are intent on restoring order after disaster, illustrating a more optimistic view of the future.

                This relates to another area of question: should journalists get involved?  Or rather, “Is it possible to be an objective journalist?”  As all this devastation takes place, sometimes in local journalists’ own home towns or states, is it always possible to remain completely objective?

                The following images (links provided) were taken following the wake of the storm.  It is quite possible that perhaps the photojournalists could have helped the victim within the picture, but by taking the picture they are remaining more objective than anything: just acting as a stander-by, snapping photos and moving onto the next affected area. 

 

(http://news.yahoo.com/photos/hurricane-sandy-1351517288-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fhurricane-sandy-1351517288-slideshow%252Fbrian-hajeski-41-brick-n-j-reacts-looking-photo-215942458.html )

(http://news.yahoo.com/photos/hurricane-sandy-1351517288-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fhurricane-sandy-1351517288-slideshow%252Frobert-connolly-left-embraces-wife-laura-survey-remains-photo-202122721.html )

(http://news.yahoo.com/photos/hurricane-sandy-1351517288-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fhurricane-sandy-1351517288-slideshow%252Fnasce-inspects-flood-damage-inside-her-home-morning-photo-150002632.html )

                We do not know what these journalists were thinking, doing or experiencing at the time these photos were taken.  From this viewpoint, however, they appear rather objective—silently snapping pictures of people surveying the damage of their own homes.  Perhaps, however, these photojournalists were witnessing their own neighbors, real people, crying over the remains of their own homes, memories, and ruined lives.  These are current examples of journalists dancing around the difficult question of whether or not to remain objective among such emotionally difficult situations like Hurricane Sandy—and if so, how exactly do they do it? 

The News of the World Phone-Hacking Scandal

                One of the biggest scandals to ever hit the journalism world recently occurred within Rupert Murdoch’s own News Corp world.  The News of the World, the 168-year-old tabloid, officially closed its doors after a phone-hacking scandal rocked the newsroom.  With nowhere to hide, the figures in charge (including chief executive Rebekah Brooks and Rupert’s own son James) admitted to phone-hacking hundreds of celebrities, individuals (including victims of the London bombings and Milly Dowler’s voicemail, a young girl who was kidnapped on her way to school, politicians, and even the British royal family; bribing the police; and also to covering up other unethical practices in the newsroom.  Over 200 people were fired from the company as a result and recompense was made to every individual victim of the scandal.

 

                This is a perfect example of what not to do in the newsroom.  Reporters at The News of the World completely bypassed Poynter’s 10 questions – all ten of them.  There was no justification, no thought as to what the consequences would be for them and the individuals, no attempt to “maximize…truth telling…[or] minimize harm” (1), nor considered what company policies to abide by (although the tabloid already had a less-than-stellar reputation as it was).  James Murdoch himself said, “These actions do not live up to the standards that our company aspires to everywhere around the world, and it is our determination to both put things right, make sure these things don’t happen again, and to be the company that I know we’ve always aspired to be” (2). The following court session is rather odd, actually; Rupert Murdoch himself states what a humbling time in his life this is and wants to make sure the correct individuals are put in place next time to run the company right.  Why, then, were they not placed there in the first place?  Why did this happen for the duration of time that it did and on such a large scale?  Why were guards not put in place to prevent these things from happening?

 

                The phone-hacking scandal under News Corp is through-and-through the perfect example of what not to do.  Even though it was a trashy tabloid, The News of the World did not even stop to think about their actions and their consequences, nonetheless never felt sorry for what they had done.  The response was unanimous throughout the world, as portrayed in the following newscast (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqtcwr6WN9g ).  Rupert continues to claim he knew nothing about the phone-hacking going on in his newsroom, and the News Corp world continues turning as if the News of the World never happened.   

 

 

(1) http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/everyday-ethics/talk-about-ethics/1750/ask-these-10-questions-to-make-good-ethical-decisions/

(2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSGzHoOUrDA

(3) http://cakeordeathcartoon.wordpress.com/tag/news-of-the-world/

His Girl Friday

                In the film His Girl Friday, news reporters test the edge of ethics in (and out of) the newsroom to get the scoop they need for the story.  Hildy Johnson, the ex-wife of the paper’s managing editor of Walter Burns, is often referred to as “the best newspaper man we’ve got” by Walter himself.  After being reeled back into the newspaper business by a series of planned yet unforeseeable events, Hildy determines she really is meant to lead the life of a newspaper woman—essentially finding it is in her blood.  What is interesting, however, is how hectic and news-centered the life of a journalist is, especially during the era of Pulitzer and Hearst.  Ethics are discarded, harm is hardly considered, and the journalists ultimately get what they want – only to turn around and do it all over again. 

                His Girl Friday is an excellent example of ethical violations in the journalism world during the era of Pulitzer and Hearst.  Characters throughout the story try payoffs for stories, bribe the editors and subjects, hand out counterfeit money, and on more than one occasion have run-ins with the police.  The characters frequently face compromising situations solved in ways that result in the most gain for the newspaper.  The journalists rarely show apathy for anybody, even if someone jumps to their death from the newsroom window itself.  They work in a very sensationalist, individualistic world focused on getting the story no matter what—and making it as dramatized and appealing as possible.  And how does any paper succeed in this era of sensationalistic practices?  Find the worst news and print it on the front page, of course.  Especially in the United States, we are more focused on the bad news (while vice versa in other nations, as pointed out in The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel) because it stirs up the adrenaline and concern, resulting in the need to know more about what happened and how we can restore order to the situation.  This mindset is especially prevalent in His Girl Friday with the murder case causing all sorts of havoc and controversy.  “Where is the murderer?  Did he do it?  What is his alibi?  How does the public weigh in?  Oh, the murderer escaped from jail?  And he is in our newsroom?   Perfect!  Never mind he has a gun pointed right at you, Hildy.  Let’s get this story written!”  This seems to be the basic dialogue encompassing the true theme of the story and the era of Yellow journalism: disregard all ethics and safety in the newsroom for the good of the story.

                Journalism in this era was highly exciting as all ethics were thrown out the window and the story came as is went.  However, the excitement was not always a positive thing, although the characters may try to disagree with this.  In order to get the story, they had to overcome any sort of safety precautions (having the murderer himself in the newsroom) and forfeit all ethics (payoffs, bribes, death, counterfeit money) in order to sensationalize the story as much as possible.  The newsroom seemed to be run as a business rather than a public service—at least behind the scenes.  Although their end seemed to be good (acquitting the murderer from his execution because he “didn’t mean to kill the man”), their means and intentions were anything but good.  The way they went about getting the story and then writing it for the public was purely dramatized and for their sales benefit.  This was displayed in the apathy they showed toward anyone and everyone, even their own employees, fiancés (Hildy’s fiancé Bruce) and the ones they supposedly love (Walter towards Hildy).  Overall, His Girl Friday reflects perfectly the ethics – or lack thereof – during the era of Pulitzer and Hearst’s Yellow journalism. 

Risk of Involvement

Many journalists relate to and agree with the idea that immersing or involving yourself in a story can be both an advantage and disadvantage.  Immersion takes mental, physical, and emotion tolls on a journalist. 

                One perspective of a journalist who immersed herself in the world of psychiatric hospital patients, Nellie Bly, put it this way: “I took upon myself to enact the part of a poor, unfortunate crazy girl, and felt it my duty not to shirk any of the disagreeable results that should follow” (1).  She knew beforehand she would be affected by the experience but not positive just how profoundly.  After the experience, she quotes, “I had looked forward so eagerly to leaving the horrible place, yet when my release came and I knew that God's sunlight was to be free for me again, there was a certain pain in leaving.“ (2).  Her experience and research into the situation did bring some change, however; “I hardly expected the grand jury to sustain me, after they saw everything different from what it had been while I was there. Yet they did, and their report to the court advises all the changes made that I had proposed” (3). 

                The question posed, then, is: Is it worth it? Is it worth getting involved in? What will be the consequences? In what ways will you never be the same? We can look to Nellie Bly’s example and many other journalists’ in situations such as these, but we must also consider the peculiarity about a specific situation if one ever arises. Journalists must consider the consequences of getting involved and must be prepared to report a story with a considerable bias toward the situation.

 

 

(1) (2) (3) http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/n/nellie_bly.html

Q&A with Gretchen Morgenson

                On Wednesday morning (October 3), I woke up early to attend the Q&A session with Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times.  I took my time walking to the Brimhall, and as soon as I walk in and turn to the left to get a copy of the paper, sure enough, there was Gretchen Morgenson.  I wasn’t sure right away if it was her, but as I followed her and her assistant down the hall, they stopped in confusion, not knowing where to go.  I asked her if she needed help finding the atrium (assuming it was her), so I lead them upstairs.  On the way up, I confirmed that she was Mrs. Morgenson.  She proceeded to ask me my name, what my college plans were, and what I hoped to find a future career in.  In response to my wanting to become a journalist, she gave me the following advice: “It’s definitely a worthwhile pursuit.  Stick with it.”

                I never expected to have such an influential albeit short opportunity as that.  Her Q&A session helped me gain a perspective of what a journalist’s life is like, which in turn made me think about what kind of a journalist I want to be.  With a little advice, she helped push me in the right direction, and with her Q&A session, she helped me further articulate what exactly I want to (or don’t want to) be doing.  I am grateful I walked into the Brimhall when I did—otherwise, I do not know if I would have felt so encouraged to continue on the path I am currently taking.