Beyond the Frame

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Beyond the Frame Beyond the Frame: Journalists’ Definitions of Immersive Journalism Ethics and Its Place in the Modern Media Landscape Master’s Thesis Laura Urbonaviciute | Student ID 11896760 Thesis supervisor: Penny Sheets Thibaut Graduate School of Communication, University of Amsterdam MA Erasmus Mundus Master: Journalism, Media & Globalization 30th of May 2018 Abstract This study analyzes how immersive journalism (IJ) ethics are defined and understood by IJ professionals. Qualitative research interviews were conducted with 15 leading journalists in the field, working for such media organizations as The New York Times, Al Jazeera and Euronews. The research aims to understand how new technology challenges current media ethics and whether traditional practices are still relevant in the changing media environment. Findings disclose that IJ professionals share traditional journalistic values and see their fundamental role in society as that of informing the public. However, immersive technology poses new challenges to journalists by enabling them to use such features as embodiment or recreation of events in a way that can potentially traumatize viewers. IJ also encourages the public to consume journalism more actively, diminishing the distance between audiences and journalists. This proximity is seen as one potential way to re-establish the public’s trust in the media, and to strengthen journalism’s position in modern society. At the same time, the study raises interesting questions about ethics’ connection to market considerations. The interviewees recognized that ethical concepts need to be expanded and adapted as well as best practices established. It is important to discuss ethics while the field develops, and this research fills an important research gap on understanding IJ professionals’ perceptions of the ethics of their profession. 2 Beyond the Frame: Journalists’ Definitions of Immersive Journalism Ethics and Its Place in the Modern Media Landscape Introduction Imagine yourself somewhere in the dark alley of South Korea or being in the middle of a busy Aleppo market in Syria. What about having an ability to explore a prison cell or see a collection of legendary David Bowie’s stage costumes in your living room? “Something profound has happened to your camera,” writes Roberts (2018) while presenting The New York Times (NYT) augmented reality journalism. I would argue even further – something profound has happened to journalism. Introduction of immersive technology fundamentally changes storytelling. Audiences are not passive spectators anymore. With the ability to explore and even be a part of the story, immersive medium paves a new way of creating empathy. Moreover, it is reshaping audience’s relationship to journalism in general. Nevertheless, such way of storytelling raises a lot of questions of how far production can go into re-creating people, events and experiences. To what extent it is journalism and what purpose does it serve? “Seek truth and report it” states a Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics (2014) preamble, which champions accuracy, transparency, independence and community values in journalism. By most scholars, such words to live by are understood as the main fundamental values of journalism (Eberwein et al. 2016; McBride & Rosenstiel, 2013; Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2001). Nevertheless, things have changed with the Internet and, later, social media, which had a dramatic effect on conventional journalism. An interactive society “replaced one-way communication” (Holmes, 2005, p. 8). These changes have only increased with the advent of immersive technology, which particularly challenges traditional notions of professional journalism ethics. Fundamentally, journalism ethics reflect values that characterize not only the legitimacy and professionalism of the craft but which lie at the core of what journalism is and what function it serves. A discussion of ethics is a discussion of abstract philosophical values 3 Beyond the Frame: Journalists’ Definitions of Immersive Journalism Ethics and Its Place in the Modern Media Landscape which crystallize into codes and regulations that many Western journalists live by. Often ethical values are presented as dualisms: propositions become true or false; individualism is juxtaposed to society; theory versus practice; objectivity versus subjectivity (Ward, 2005). Nevertheless, Hanitzsch (2007) sees real journalistic practices existing somewhere in the grey area, between both extremes. That is why it is important to research latter grey area of journalism ethics, especially in such new field as IJ. Sirkkunen et al. (2016) stresses the importance of creating new knowledge that “has been lacking in the journalistic media houses and newsrooms” and suggests to study production methods and new genres of IJ that “meet the principles and ethics of journalism,” which is essential for building new best practices. Based on current knowledge and ideas, this research will analyze how immersive media journalists see their profession, and understand the ethical implications of immersive technology. Qualitative interviews are used to investigate the mindset of IJ professionals as well as tackle into the grey area of journalism ethics by approaching it as a mindset rather than practical guidelines or a set of written rules. Journalism’s Function in Democracy Throughout the years, journalism as a profession has been put under great scrutiny. An ever-changing media landscape constantly challenges and questions the role of journalism as well as its meaning for democracy. Academics discuss whether it can even be perceived as a profession (Davis, 2010), which inevitably questions the legitimacy and perception of journalism. Traditionally, western researchers describe journalism as having a social contract with democracy (Locke, 1988; Kieran, 2000; McQuail, 1992; Strömbäck, 2004 as cited in Strömbäck, 2005). That is, in order for journalism to thrive, it needs independence and 4 Beyond the Frame: Journalists’ Definitions of Immersive Journalism Ethics and Its Place in the Modern Media Landscape democracy that respects freedom of speech, while democracy itself requires a “system for the flow of information, for public discussion and for a watchdog function independent of the state” (Strömbäck, 2005, p. 332). Rosen (1997) names gatekeeping as a critical act in selecting the stories and creating an “informational diet” that allows society to construct their worldview. It is the role of journalism to “construct the present world for us in such a way that we can live in it as responsible citizens and people who care about the health of the society.” There is a clear pattern among journalism researchers in the perception of its fundamental function. Kovach and Rosenstiel (2001, p. 17) describe it as “providing citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing.” While many journalists feel this moral obligation towards democracy and the need to fulfill their role as a watchdog and information provider (Strömbäck, 2005), there are many debates about the ethical and legal limits that should be applied to journalism. Journalism’s relationship with the public is built on trust, but within this sense of loyalty there are two domains that bind journalists: ethics and law (Black, 2010). Whereas laws are provided by the state, ethics are particularly interesting, controversial, and ever-evolving, because they are applied by journalists themselves. As Davis (2010) notes, the fact that journalists as a professional community voluntarily apply ethical rules and obligations helps strengthen the profession—ethical codes provide a source of legitimacy for journalists. Similarly, as in other disciplines like politics, business or medicine, journalism has its own ethics, which, according to Eberwein and Porlezza (2016) “paves the way for a definition of ideal values like truth, freedom, and solidarity as well as order and cohesion, which are regarded as prerequisites for democratic media to fulfill their social function” (McQuail, 2013, as cited by Eberwein and Porlezza, 2016, p. 329). Thus, we see that an understanding of journalism ethics is essential to understanding journalism’s ability to uphold its social contract with democracy. 5 Beyond the Frame: Journalists’ Definitions of Immersive Journalism Ethics and Its Place in the Modern Media Landscape Evolving Norms in Changing Media Landscape The conversation about ethics is deeply rooted in Western journalistic tradition, which for many years has been understood as questioning such values as objectivity. To better understand journalism ethics and its evolvement, in this section I will look into fundamental journalistic values and how they have changed throughout the years. Iggers (1999) states that perceptions of objectivity have evolved since the nineteenth century when faith in facts was unquestionable. Author provides an interesting view, that nowadays notions regarding objectivity exist only to underline that journalism cannot be objective. It is important to note that objectivity, rather than being a practice, reflects on the purpose of journalism in a society: it assumes that the journalistic community serves the public good. Nowadays McBride and Rosenstiel (2013) as well as Singer (2010) describe transparency as an essential principle of modern journalism, next to credibility and community, since in the age of printed press journalism was seen as an elite profession that did not concern the general public. Through analysis of changing
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