Intellectualism, television news entertainment, MSM and blogs
While I am sure that I am going to learn some interesting skills in Broadcast I, I am resigned to having to do some sophomoric and condescending reading as the class tries to bang into some students' heads that there is more to journalism than being a famous face on T.V.
One of this weeks readings is "The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools" by Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder. This book is very condescending. Among other things, it reminds its readers that, "All reasoning has a purpose." Really?
At least it's not as bad as "Broadcast News Handbook," written by C.A. Tuggle, Forrest Carr, and Suzanne Huffman, which explains what appropriate dress is to wear to an interview and actually encourages "infotainment," which even the authors recognize often comes dangerously close to "entermation," which the authors define as, "entertainment with only a dash of information." Yet, throughout the book they continue to encourage news with a two dashes of information.
This might be the reality of the business, but teaching to the lowest common denominator only ensures that this type of T.V. journalism will continue. While students shouldn't be totally sheltered from the realities of the business they're seeking to enter, they should be taught to ask critical questions of that type of T.V. "news" and how to produce alternatives.
Sorry for the digression.
To get back to my point, the other book included an eight-point guide to "Essential Intellectual Traits" (is everything in T.V. boiled down to simplified lists?). The traits are intellectual humility, intellectual courage, intellectual empathy, intellectual autonomy, intellectual integrity, intellectual perseverance, confidence in reason, and fair-mindedness page 1 page 2.
Regardless of what I think about these readings, I try to take away some kernel, and this guide to essential intellectual traits got me thinking about how these traits in the mainstream media stack up against the blogsphere. I think the strengths and weaknesses of both is telling:
While the mainstream media tries to live up to all of these essential intellectual traits, it falls far short. Firstly, it has little intellectual humility. Rarely does it recognize the limits of its own knowledge, particularly about its own businesses. How often does the media shrug aside criticisms, simply because the critics are not journalists, and those must not understand that "that's just the way things are done"? Some media outlets show intellectual humility in appointing ombudsmen to look internally at the organization's operations, but too often these ombudsmen are an afterthought. Their hindsight is interesting, but does not permeate the organization in such a way as to lead to meaningful reforms.
The blogsphere also suffers from a degree of boastfulness (which, is sadly growing in prominence), but most bloggers still come to the net with humility as a guiding principle. This makes self-correction and self-policing much more effective in the blogsphere than it is in traditional media.
As far as intellectual courage, sometimes the media has a lot, other times little. It failed to take the administration to task concerning its reasons for going to war with Iraq. As the book suggests, the media would be well served to "be true to our own thinking in such circumstances." Which also speaks to the media's need for greater intellectual autonomy. See comments on the lack of self-correction and self-policing in mainstream media, which may explain the pack mentality and feeding frenzies far too prevalent around events such as the Scott Peterson trail (I am willing to bet that the Michael Jackson trial shows that few lessons have been learned).
Meanwhile, while the Peterson's verdict is covered and rehashed ad nauseam, other more important subjects are quickly forgotten. The media often lacks intellectual perseverance. Bloggers sometimes do better in this regard, but not always. Often it takes a combination of bloggers and special interest groups to keep important stories alive, and even then important questions, such as what is the truth about President Bush's National Guard record. Though it's hard to complain that Bush isn't dogged enough in the blogsphere, because sometimes bloggers themselves lack the fair-mindedness to which they should aspire, and they are themselves turned into partisan hacks (though, the same criticism could be leveled at the mainstream media).
As far as intellectual integrity, this is an area in which both bloggers and the mainstream media fall short. Memo-gate is just one example of the mainstream media's shortcoming in this area. But too often bloggers also fail to live up to the same intellectual standards to which they try to hold the mainstream media and other power brokers. Yet, where bloggers lack intellectual integrity, they make up with confidence in reason, an ability to cultivate "rational faculties." Where one blogger fails to live up to the standards of the community, the greater reason of the community percolates to the surface as a self-correcting, self-policing mechanism. The same process that takes hours on the net may take months within mainstream media.
Perhaps the most important intellectual trait not mentioned in this section of the book, is the desire to make improvements in one's faculties. There are some bloggers that are trying to have constructive conversations to meet this goal. And there are pockets of mainstream journalists doing the same. Tragically, though, these journalists are often pushed to the periphery of the profession, and both groups are guilty of assuming a defensive crouch, each defending what it is that they do. Both would be well served to reexamine how they measure up against these intellectual traits, and how they might be more intellectually honest with themselves and their audiences.
One of this weeks readings is "The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools" by Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder. This book is very condescending. Among other things, it reminds its readers that, "All reasoning has a purpose." Really?
At least it's not as bad as "Broadcast News Handbook," written by C.A. Tuggle, Forrest Carr, and Suzanne Huffman, which explains what appropriate dress is to wear to an interview and actually encourages "infotainment," which even the authors recognize often comes dangerously close to "entermation," which the authors define as, "entertainment with only a dash of information." Yet, throughout the book they continue to encourage news with a two dashes of information.
This might be the reality of the business, but teaching to the lowest common denominator only ensures that this type of T.V. journalism will continue. While students shouldn't be totally sheltered from the realities of the business they're seeking to enter, they should be taught to ask critical questions of that type of T.V. "news" and how to produce alternatives.
Sorry for the digression.
To get back to my point, the other book included an eight-point guide to "Essential Intellectual Traits" (is everything in T.V. boiled down to simplified lists?). The traits are intellectual humility, intellectual courage, intellectual empathy, intellectual autonomy, intellectual integrity, intellectual perseverance, confidence in reason, and fair-mindedness page 1 page 2.
Regardless of what I think about these readings, I try to take away some kernel, and this guide to essential intellectual traits got me thinking about how these traits in the mainstream media stack up against the blogsphere. I think the strengths and weaknesses of both is telling:
While the mainstream media tries to live up to all of these essential intellectual traits, it falls far short. Firstly, it has little intellectual humility. Rarely does it recognize the limits of its own knowledge, particularly about its own businesses. How often does the media shrug aside criticisms, simply because the critics are not journalists, and those must not understand that "that's just the way things are done"? Some media outlets show intellectual humility in appointing ombudsmen to look internally at the organization's operations, but too often these ombudsmen are an afterthought. Their hindsight is interesting, but does not permeate the organization in such a way as to lead to meaningful reforms.
The blogsphere also suffers from a degree of boastfulness (which, is sadly growing in prominence), but most bloggers still come to the net with humility as a guiding principle. This makes self-correction and self-policing much more effective in the blogsphere than it is in traditional media.
As far as intellectual courage, sometimes the media has a lot, other times little. It failed to take the administration to task concerning its reasons for going to war with Iraq. As the book suggests, the media would be well served to "be true to our own thinking in such circumstances." Which also speaks to the media's need for greater intellectual autonomy. See comments on the lack of self-correction and self-policing in mainstream media, which may explain the pack mentality and feeding frenzies far too prevalent around events such as the Scott Peterson trail (I am willing to bet that the Michael Jackson trial shows that few lessons have been learned).
Meanwhile, while the Peterson's verdict is covered and rehashed ad nauseam, other more important subjects are quickly forgotten. The media often lacks intellectual perseverance. Bloggers sometimes do better in this regard, but not always. Often it takes a combination of bloggers and special interest groups to keep important stories alive, and even then important questions, such as what is the truth about President Bush's National Guard record. Though it's hard to complain that Bush isn't dogged enough in the blogsphere, because sometimes bloggers themselves lack the fair-mindedness to which they should aspire, and they are themselves turned into partisan hacks (though, the same criticism could be leveled at the mainstream media).
As far as intellectual integrity, this is an area in which both bloggers and the mainstream media fall short. Memo-gate is just one example of the mainstream media's shortcoming in this area. But too often bloggers also fail to live up to the same intellectual standards to which they try to hold the mainstream media and other power brokers. Yet, where bloggers lack intellectual integrity, they make up with confidence in reason, an ability to cultivate "rational faculties." Where one blogger fails to live up to the standards of the community, the greater reason of the community percolates to the surface as a self-correcting, self-policing mechanism. The same process that takes hours on the net may take months within mainstream media.
Perhaps the most important intellectual trait not mentioned in this section of the book, is the desire to make improvements in one's faculties. There are some bloggers that are trying to have constructive conversations to meet this goal. And there are pockets of mainstream journalists doing the same. Tragically, though, these journalists are often pushed to the periphery of the profession, and both groups are guilty of assuming a defensive crouch, each defending what it is that they do. Both would be well served to reexamine how they measure up against these intellectual traits, and how they might be more intellectually honest with themselves and their audiences.
<< Home