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The Democratic Ideals Among the Palestinian Journalists by Mats Tiborn

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The Democratic Ideals Among the Palestinian Journalists by Mats Tiborn University of Gothenburg Dept. of Journalism, Media and Communication Master essay in Media and Communication Spring 2011 The democratic ideals among the Palestinian journalists by Mats Tiborn Mats Tiborn 800411-4933 Tutor: Jenny Wiik 1 Abstract Title: The democratic ideals among the Palestinian journalists Number of pages: 72+4 (appendix) Author: Mats Tiborn Tutor: Jenny Wiik Course: Master essay, Media and Communication Period: Spring 2011 University: Dept. of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg Purpose/ Aim: This essay studies the democracy-supportive journalistic ideals among the Palestinian journalists and compare them with earlier studies on journalistic ideals. The essay also studies what shapes these ideals and what holds them back in the journalist's work. Material/ Method: The essay is based upon semi-structured deep-interviews with twelve Palestinian journalists that work for different kinds of media, with different background and in different ages. The interviews are based on theories about journalistic ideals and the relationship between democracy and journalism. Main results: The journalists have great knowledge about the democratic functions within journalism. They are driven by idealism and they work for change in the society. The Palestinian cause weighs the most when the ideal of objectivity is put to the test. A well spread self-censorship is inhibiting the democracy-supportive journalistic ideals from fully work. Though the journalists show an impressive strength to keep up the work in a very dangerous situation. Keywords: Palestine, journalism, journalistic ideals, democracy, the West Bank, Israel, Fatah, Hamas, objectivity, independence, scrutinizing, watchdog-effect, autonomy, self-censorship, Palestinian media landscape, Arab press systems. 2 Acknowledgements First of all i'd like to thank all the journalists that participate in the essay. Thank you for giving me your time and knowledge, and thanks for your enthusiasm and welcoming attitude! Thanks to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the School of Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg for granting me the scholarship that made this essay possible. I'd also like to thank Johan Romare at Fojo Media Institute for help with formulation the orientation of the essay and Jim Downing and Fojo for great contacts in Palestine. Which leads me to thank Buthayna Semeri at the Media Development Centre at the Birzeit University and for your support. A big thanks to the Institution for Journalism, Media and Communication at the University of Gothenburg that helped this essay to become what it is. Thank you Annika Bergström and Lena Johannison. And of course thank you Jenny Wiik, my tutor who sometimes knew more about the nature of my essay than I did myself. Thanks for pushing me just enough to get this done. Thank you Linn for accepting my absent-mindedness during this spring. This will stop now! 3 Contents 1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................6 2. Problem formulation.........................................................................................................................8 3. Question formulation........................................................................................................................9 4. Main characters of the essay...........................................................................................................10 5. Structure of the essay......................................................................................................................10 6. What is journalism supposed to be?...............................................................................................11 6.1. Democracy and journalism- theories of the media.................................................................11 6.2. Journalism and authoritarian/ totalitarian regimes..................................................................11 6.3. Four theories of the press........................................................................................................13 6.4. Democracy-supportive journalism..........................................................................................13 6.5. Arab press systems..................................................................................................................14 7. The Palestinian media.....................................................................................................................15 7.1. The media landscape...............................................................................................................15 7.2. Working conditions of the Palestinian journalists..................................................................17 7.3. The respondents experiences from the field...........................................................................17 7.4. The availability of the politicians ..........................................................................................20 7.5. Repression in figures..............................................................................................................21 8. The ideals........................................................................................................................................22 8.1 Analysing the journalists ideals...............................................................................................22 8.2. Journalism as a profession and the respondents.....................................................................23 8.3. The democratic tool................................................................................................................25 8.4. Universal ideals.......................................................................................................................26 8.5. Public service ........................................................................................................................28 8.5.1. Inform the public............................................................................................................28 8.5.2. Scrutinization.................................................................................................................31 8.5.3. The watch dog................................................................................................................33 8.6. Objectivity..............................................................................................................................35 8.7. Autonomy................................................................................................................................39 8.7.1. Criticising the politicians...............................................................................................43 8.7.2. Independence.................................................................................................................45 8.8. Self-censorship........................................................................................................................46 8.9. Questioning the universal ideals- Hanitzsch's model.............................................................50 8.9.1. Observe or take part ......................................................................................................51 4 8.9.2. Power distance...............................................................................................................52 8.9.3. Market orientation..........................................................................................................53 8.9.4. Who is to tell what is true, anyway?..............................................................................53 8.9.5. A fact is a fact.................................................................................................................54 8.9.6. Culture or world culture.................................................................................................56 ..................................................................................................................................................56 8.9.7. Consequences- schmonsequences...................................................................................57 9. Ethics in action ..............................................................................................................................57 10. Summary and Conclusion.............................................................................................................60 11. Method..........................................................................................................................................64 11.1. The problem..........................................................................................................................64 11.2. The theories...........................................................................................................................64 11.3. Collecting the data................................................................................................................65 11.4. The respondents....................................................................................................................65 11.5. The questions........................................................................................................................66 11.6. The interviews.......................................................................................................................66
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