DOCUMENT RESUME ED 401 572 CS 215 580 TITLE Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (79th, Anaheim, CA, August 10-13, 1996). Miscellaneous Studies Division. INSTITUTION Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. PUB DATE Aug 96 NOTE 440p.; For other sections of these proceedings, see CS 215 568-579. PUB TYPE Collected Works Conference Proceedings (021) EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PC18 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Agenda Setting; Crime; Foreign Countries; Homosexuality; *Journalism; *Mass Media Role; *Mass Media Use; Minority Groups; Models; *Political Attitudes; Programming (Broadcast) IDENTIFIERS Belgium; Market Segmentation; Newspaper Chains; Newspaper Ownership; Political Efficacy; Security Classifications ABSTRACT The Miscellaneous Studies Division of these Proceedings contains the following 13 papers: "A Trend, Imagined or Real? A Comparative Study of Development Journalism and Public Journalism" (Jiafei Yin); "Investigative Reporting about Minorities in America" (Tim Gallimore and Lillian Dunlap); "A Defining Moment: Who Says What about Public Journalism" (Sally McMillan and others); "Stamping the Documents: The Rise of the Security Classification System" (David H. Morrissey); "GLAAD to Be Gay: A Survey of the Media Activist Strategies of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation" (Jack Banks); "Do Vivid and Pallid News Portrayals of Political Expression Influence Political Tolerance?" (Catherine A. Steele and others); "The Impact of Political Efficacy and Media Use on Political Participation during the 1992 Presidential Election Campaign" (Huiping A. Huang); "Market Segmentation: How Does a U.S. Company Segment in Overseas Markets?" (Lalida Silpacharn); "Assessing Diversity in Broadcast Syndication" (Philip M. Napoli); "Crime and Agenda-Setting, 1988-1995" The Relationships among the President, the Press, and the Public" (Patrick M. Jablonski and William J. Gonzenbach); "Newspaper Ownership and Publisher Autonomy: A Ranking of the Chains" (Martha N. Matthews); "Beyond the Principle of Relative Constancy: Determinants of Consumer Mass Media Expenditures in Belgium" (Michel Dupagne); and "The Business of Newspaper Companies: Are Newspapers Part of That Future?" (Karen Cristiano). Individual papers contain references. (NKA) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (79th, Anaheim, CA, August 10-13, 1996). Miscellaneous Studies Division. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCEAND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL U.S. DEPARTMENT Office of Educational ResearchOF EDUCATION HAS BEEN GRANTED BY and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION frielThis CENTER (EIC)R document has beenreproduced as received from theperson or organization originating it. Minor changes havebeen made to improve reproductionquality. TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Points of viewor opinions staled in this document do notnecessarily represent official OERI positionor policy. BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 A Trend, Imagined or Real? A Comparative Study of Development Journalism and Public Journalism Jiafei Yin, Ph.D Candidate The School of Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia Mailing address: 8G University Terrace, Columbia, MO 65201 Phone number: 573-884-3725 E-mail address: c438242@MIZZOU1 .Missouri.edu For Presentation at the Annual Convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in Anaheim, California, August 1996 The author wishes to thank Dr. Edmund B. Lambeth for his valuable advice and suggestions, and critical reading of the paper. His kindness and help contribute greatly to this paper. August 1996 3 A Trend, Imagined or Real? A Comparative Study of Development Journalism and Public Journalism Abstract:This paper is attempting to identify an emerging trend away from the traditional/conventional journalism by comparing the directions, characteristics and practices of development journalism with public/civic journalism. By comparing the similarities of the two, an emerging journalistic trend toward activist journalism, involved journalism, and journalism for predetermined ends appears. The trend is in direct contrast to conventional journalistic values, such as detachment, the parade instead of leading the parade". Differences are also studied for the two to complement each other. 1 I. Introduction: The Impossible Comparison Most people would agree that the conventional definition of journalism is the reporting of news though there is much debate and controversy over how the reporting should be done and what is news. This paper is focusing on the two types of journalism that go beyond conventional journalism, that do more than just tell the news. They are development journalism practiced mostly in developing countries and civic journalism or public journalism, which is currently being experimented in North America. This paper attempts to compare and contrast the two both in theory and in practice. Some media scholars or researchers might be shocked at the very idea of putting the two concepts next to each other and comparing them. After all, development journalism and civic journalism come out of totally different media systems and against different socio- economic backgrounds. Also to some Western libertarian media scholars and theorists like Robert Stevenson (1988:143) and Leonard R. Sussman (1978:76), development journalism necessarily means state control of mass media under the pretext of national development. They claim that efforts to make development journalism work have already failed. Civic journalism, on the other hand, has come out of a free press system and stresses the need to "reconnect" with the readers and communities. And the experiments in civic journalism have just started and are still spreading. Other media researchers like Majid Tehranian (1980) claim that the debate over development journalism has hit a theoretical and political impasse whereas the debate about the legitimacy of civic journalism is yet to reach its climax. 2 Even less extreme Western media scholars would think that, given the vastly different social contexts, historical periods which give rise to the two forms of journalism, the different techniques, the different goals, and the fact that development journalism is practiced in developing countries while civic journalism is practiced in America, there is little common ground for comparison. Despite the claims by some media scholars, the reality today is that development journalism is still being practiced in many developing countries in varied forms and the debateabout development journalism is still very much alive. Media scholars from developing countries such as the Philippines and India still continue to pour out data about the practice of development journalism in their respective countries. And in most academic discussions about international communications today, development journalism is still a legitimate topic. Some media scholars are trying to work out alternative models to development journalism. Hemant Shah's normative model of "emancipatory journalism" is an attempt in this direction (Shah,1995). Even William A. Hachten sees "the developmental concept" as "an emerging pattern" associated with the new nations of the Third World even though he perceives the concept as "only a temporary and transitional condition" (Hachten, 1992). Acknowledging the seeming or apparent incompatibilities of development journalism and civic journalism, the author is still convinced that such a comparison is not only possible, but, helpful, at least heuristically for the healthy development of both. II. A Common Trend: Away from Conventional Journalism 3 The concept of development journalism started in Asia in 1960s (Shafter, 1987). According to Encanto, (Atwood, 1982:33-52) it was not until the late 1960s that the phrase "development journalism" was first used. Development journalism, put simply, is journalism for national development. During the 1960s, in Asia, a group of journalists began to promote the concept of "development" journalism -- in a bid to reach rural areas with information which was relevant, clear and competent; and to steer journalism towards informed discussion of the economic and social problem central to developing countries' situations. (Righter, 1978:188-189) From the above description we can see that development journalism arose from dissatisfaction with conventional journalism. Development journalists believe that conventional journalism is ineffective in helping nations, especially rural areas, develop. They are convinced that conventional journalism is not reaching the rural areas with "relevant" and "clear" information. The background of development journalism clearly demonstrates that unlike conventional journalism which only aims at reporting the news, development journalism has a mission to fulfill. The call from Third World countries for a New World Information and Communication Order, which reached its height in 1970s, gave further impetus to the promotion of development journalism. Some media scholars such as Lent (Casmir, 1978:679) even think that the New Order has given rise to the "development communication" movement. The call for the New Order is the result of serious criticism