The two central or basic frameworks for analysis:

Structuralist-functionalist Critical or social class-based social science of mainstream foundation of analysis, communication studies influenced by maxim
1- It fits within the research tradition called the liberal pluralist This approach tends to accept the western societies and the U.S as the best of all the rest. Its industry, political and cultural structures are where they start and which the rest of the world to end 2- In journalistic studies: this approach posits the free presswhich operates without interference from the government- as model to emulate( imitate) 3- It takes the profit making media enterprise for granted as the way things ought to be organized. Their flaws are recognized but they are accepted as better than any alternative 4- Identified by the metaphor of the gatekeeper 5- The liberal tools of study coalesce in a media organizational attitude that might be labeled socially responsible profitability 1. It questions the previous assumptions and doesnt accept a certain model as natural or given

2. It concerns about the boarder relations between the media and social classes in society

3. It concerns about the values that the media carry to the society

4. Identified by the metaphor of the ideology 5. The critical tools of study organize around a perspective we could call the production of culture

When these two approaches are used to address specific questions about media workers and the mechanism of control they divide up the issues approximately as follows: The tools of study Liberal-pluralist Gatekeeping Ethical considerations Professionalism as opportunity Technological possibilities critical/class-based (self) censorship ideological considerations professionalism as control technological constrains

Colleagues seeking the truth

workers aiming to please

Gatekeeping versus Self-Censorship

The gatekeeper: The image of the gatekeeper is central to the liberal pluralist view point of how control works In this view the journalist has to use the personal judgment that he or she has developed to decide what is newsworthy Developing professional judgment is a process of gradual socialization, of formal and informal education and training in the appropriate roles of the professional journalist. o It begins with undergraduate or graduate training in journalism. In the classroom context, the aspiring journalist learns the acceptable modes of inquiry, content and style. Pre-journalism students undergo a fairly strict socialization in their college years When the enters the newsroom he discovers The gatekeeper function is directly proportional to the amount of power and responsibility the individual has written into his or her job description The cub is a beginner at the gate A beat reporter can keep more responsibility of the gate than the cup A seasoned veteran is better than a beat The city editor is better than a seasoned veteran The publisher is the best of all

Day to day work in the hierarchy tends to displace the sense of responsibility from the lower-level workers up through the hierarchy o i.e. the media worker can claim one of the benefits of hierarchy: the diversion of criticism from the individual to higher-ups

To sum up:

The liberal-pluralist view point says: socialization continues where school-based training leaves of through apprenticeships and on-the-job training or what is modernly called mentoring or networking

Self-censorship:
censorship is the central concept in the critical/class-based view the form of censorship is rarely of the variety that comes down hard on those lower in the hierarchy o instead media workers engage in self censorship and the careful self-censor doesnt need warnings for crossing the perspectives of those in charge

the control is more subtle o the worker knows what the boss wants the work to look like and thus what occurs is the inhibition of any reportorial or editorial urges to push outside the established boundaries rewards are proffered to those who self-sensor most effectively

most of the time self-censorship works and the events passing through the gate are not based on professional standers and no events with interpretations that might upset the status quo could pass through if the journalist isnt self-censored he might lose his prestige, power, security of position and eventually he might even lose his job

To sum up:

The person becomes the ideologue (observer) of his or her own volition (will) and as an ideologue he adopts the credo of those in power and comes to accept it as natural, timeless, and universal

Ideological considerations versus ethical considerations

Ideological considerations: According to the critical view they dominate the way media workers link.

Definition of ideology according to Richard Ohmann: o Ideology is the whole of ideas of a group of people with common interests. The most common tactic of ideology is to show how the interests of the group are really the same as the interests of the whole society or of humanity in general.

Those who own the media share certain common concerns with owners of other industries, in many cases they are actually the same people across industries The media they own push their ideological considerations, the main stream ideology of the current status quo, and thus media workers who make a living from these bosses see the mainstream ideology as permanent and fixed Example of ideology: ( there are other examples in the book if u would like to check them but I guess one is enough) o The people of color condemn the established media in the united states When the team of the American broadcasting company lost the marathon and the winner was an African and they didnt shoot the moment of his winning many viewers condemned the ABC of being raciest But the ABC condemned it on the bad judgment of the camera operator

Ethical consideration: From the liberal point of view news judgment like the incident of the ABC are simply an example of ethical consideration not ideology. Thus in this view the decision making is influenced by the ethical standers of each journalist The solution to this from the pluralist point of view is to concentrate and train the ethically sound journalists

Professionalism as opportunity or control?

First the difference between occupation and professionalism

Occupation
1. Has little standards

Professionalism
1. Has standards

2. Discourage creativity and standards of excellence

2. Encourage creativity and standards of excellence which are in theory characteristics of professionalism in many fields even if it is not practically applied

The liberal-pluralist view: An ethical journalist who is well trained and talented is a professional. Since the professional media worker enjoys a field of opportunity and success The critical/class-based view The process by which a particular occupational category becomes a profession is questionable. Depending on the previous comparison they say that the media is an occupation because: 1- The media occupation has no strictly enforced codes of ethics, nor do they exist within structure of licensing. Their proof: o a well-known communication text book stats that : You become a journalist when you declare you are one and you remain a journalist as long as you keep declaring that you are one. It is hard to think of another occupation of comparable importance to society that exercises so little formal control over itself

Sculhaman argues that the informal control (the way organizations control media workers through more subtle forms than ethical codes) serves quite well enough. So this may not be a useful distinction

2- Institutional practices in the media constrain a workers imaginative impulses by exerting controls that encourage conformity. Their proof: o The media is bound by deadline pressures , technical procedures and the limitations of artistry in favor of conventional, efficient and accessible procedures These and other occupational realities make professionalism a mechanism for controlling the workers production, channeling limited

creativity into the safe and the mundane, not the risky and experimental. To sum up the critical point of view: Opportunity is not the reward of the professional as the liberal-pluralist claims. It is the illusion through which people who believe their occupations are creative make themselves stay well within the prescribed boundaries

Workers or colleagues?
Liberal pluralist They define the objectivity as the result of standing as an unbiased observer outside the events being transformed into news The both sides approach to assuring truth which is often portrayed as ( us versus them) Critical/social class-based There is no objectivity the interpretations always changes the report to one more or less subjective They argues that the both sides approach forgets that there are more than 2 sides in the issue ,some issues defy that approach like ; the womens movement , the economic and political dynamics in developing the world They ask the question of how bias can be avoided when the structure excluded the view points of those without access to the decisions and conclusion. There is more than one single truth instead there is a shared culture vision within which different interpretation of truth is possible Journalists are the players in a drama of conflict and struggle among unequals. This disequilibrium is a product of varying degrees of capability to manipulate the levels of power; media consumers and producers who are not aligned with media owners dont have equal chances to create their definition of news and their version of truth When those in the bottom join those in the top in seeking the truth, they are only seeking to please their superiors. The unconscious limits of the journalistic occupations tie the workers within them to values and attitudes that have little to do with truth, balance, creativity, or art.

Avoid the bias approach

Their ideology is that the truth is absolute Journalists are colleagues in the great search of truth

They recognize limitations imposed by the nature of the audience, technological capabilities, ethical standards etc But despite the limitations the U.S media

is doing a hell of a job. To sum up: the journalist is a colleague in the enterprise in which all the members are seeking the truth. Being objective in reporting, presenting both sides, and avoiding bias are all subcategories of the overarching category of truth seeking

I cant sum it up

The claws in the soft paws

When self-censorship and other constrains do not work , journalists and other media workers do get fired . But it is often impossible to link their dismissal to specific questions of control from the above. Decisions to terminate workers can be attributed to: 1- Business efficiency in the context of networks closing bureaus and reducing staff 2- Sometimes it is attributed to a matter of talent and quality Business efficiency and talent mask the ideology reasons for the dismissal of workers. On occasion, employers drop the mask and reveal the brute powers to suppress ideas beyond the boundaries of the permissible (there are many other examples in the book if u would like to check them) Example: * the case of MacDougall (1975) He says that he was at last free when he had the courage to resign his job at the wall street journal after 10 years MacDougall said that he had written many articles advocating socialist ideals under pen name in other newspapers; Taylor {his patron} responded that if he knew about those articles earlier he would have fired him So we see that the steel claw does rake the career of progressive journalists who challenge mainstream ideology. (This part I cant understand it so it wrote it almost as it is in the book) So are there alternatives for media workers who wish to push back the limits imposed on them by the control mechanisms under which they labor? There are contradictory trends at work within journalism

Recent trends are towards more superficial news coverage in print and broadcasting But some newspapers are increasing their serious coverage and the polls indicate that the public desire for more seriousness For media workers there are new media organizations that are welling to foster the debate on the issues raised in this chapter

People of color, women, gay men, lesbians and anyone who find themselves at odds not just from their superiors but from their conservative peers as well, the new critical journalists can support their voices and also they can ally with their associations and unions to stand up against those in charge Both as practitioners and as media consumers we can question authority by challenging the attitudes, approaches, and conditions we are asked to accept Maie Raouf