More from Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism
Norman Mailer: a novelist in a time of war
(00:58:30)
From: Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism
This talk of Norman Mailer's is a broadcast special from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
Journalists and War
(00:58:30)
From: Nieman Program on Narrative Journalism
“Journalists and War” is a broadcast special from the Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
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Piece Description
"Rehabbing the Fourth Estate" is a broadcast special from the Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. It is hosted by Christopher Lydon. Every year the Program hosts a conference where a thousand working journalists come to Cambridge for one of the largest annual meetings of the journalist community. Harvard's annual journalism conference felt different in 2005. It's always a long weekend conference on the craft of narrative writing. This year it wasn't shoptalk or method, it was more of an examination of an institution. A lot of the talk in fact was of a profession in decline, of a media cowed, incurious and ineffective. The old pros and newfangled bloggers both are feeling the slump of an institution gone soft. Many wonder if the standards of fairness, balance and objectivity even apply anymore. Not that they're ready to take the wrecking ball to the Fourth Estate yet--journalists are wondering if the gated community their profession has become can be the scrappy frontier it once was. The hour consists of excerpts from three talks given at the 2005 conference. Randy Cohen Philip Gourevitch Doug McGill Here is a link to a page with bios/photos for each speaker: http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/events/conferences/narrative2005/bios.html The Nieman Conference was recorded in Boston, MA, December 5-8, 2005, by Cambridge Transcriptions
Timing and Cues
0:00 - 0:59 Billboard (0:59)
1:00 - 5:59 News Hole (4:59)
6:00 - 18:59 Segment #1 (12:59)
19:00 - 19:59 Station ID break #1 (0:59)
20:00 - 38:59 Segment #2 (18:59)
39:00 - 39:59 Station ID break #2 (0:59)
40:00 - 58:59 Segment #3 (18:59)
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Yolette Garcia
Posted on January 22, 2006 at 05:42 PM | Permalink
Review of Rehabbing the Fourth Estate
Almost by acclamation, three lecturers at the 2005 Nieman Conference on Narrative Journalism, believe that "objectivity" is killing the craft of the Fourth Estate.
Randy Cohen, who writes "The Ethicist" for The New York Times, posits that journalists are confusing "objectivity" with "even-handedness," and so stories become a ping-pong played out by sources. He sees capitulation to political pressure, and complacency as major newsroom failings. To him, journalism ethics need to reflect civic virtues, as reporters and editors seek out what a just society is and means.
Phillip Gourevitch, the editor of "The Paris Review" speaks about the bubble of covering a presidential campaign, and how journalists obsess over access to the candidate, when in fact, they have none, especially when they are traveling with the candidate. He also observes that the result of this pack journalism is homogeneity, and/or what other reporters are thinking. Stories are much more interesting and authentic when traveling off the beaten path. Where, he wonders, is the interest in seeking the truth? Also, he believes that after 9-11 journalists feared delivering bad news, and became softer.
Doug McGill, who retired from foreign assignments from The NY Times and other major dailies, was the most compelling. He now practices what he calls "glocalism," a brand of journalism that he does from Rochester, Minn. by cultivating and reporting on the international communities in the city. He publishes on the internet and has broken major international stories. He believes that journalism today operates as a branch of social science since objectivity is its highest goal. He reminds that journalists used to be interpreters of human events.
The hour goes by fast with these good deliberators. I only wish that we could hear the three come together and conclude their separate presentations for some overarching thoughts. I think the lectures can instruct those of us who are in the profession, and those of us who are on the outside wondering what the heck is going on. One technical note, there is a brief billboard at the beginning, followed by a long block of music (6 minutes), before it starts.