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Introduction:
Jay Harris, former news publisher of the most distinguished newspaper in the Bay Area, the San Jose Mercury News, recently resigned from his long standing job at the newspaper in order to take a stand against the unethical actions of the Mercury News. Knight Ridder Incorporated, the second largest newspaper owner in the country, owning 32 daily newspapers, and having a circulation of 8.5 million people per day, owns the Mercury News.(1) With his resignation, Jay Harris widely publicized the ongoing debate in public journalism -the competition between printing quality journalism and gaining quality profits. Should profits get in the way of printing quality journalism? What should newspaper companies strive for? The answer seems simple. But many newspaper companies have long chosen the profitable route. So, the question to ask is: Have profits gotten in the way of printing quality journalism?
Despite this recent public uproar against the ethics involving
quality of journalism and desire for profits, this ethical dilemma
has been an ongoing debate since William Randolph Hearst and Joseph
Pulitzer, the newspaper kings in the late 19th century, went into
competition. What developed because of their desire for profits
was yellow journalism: writing sensational and often false stories
to sell more newspapers. Critics attacked yellow journalism, calling
it "an emphasis on sex, violence and crime sprinkled with
emotionalism, inaccuracies and exaggerations."(2) Today,
yellow journalism has taken on a new meaning. Modern journalists
are in a race to be the best, and thus, often use false or semi-false
sources. Or add something to a story to make an already sensational
story even more sensational. For example, in the movie Broadcast
News, a TV reporter fakes an emotion by crying on cue to instill
even more sympathy in the audience. Today's yellow journalism,
just like yesterday's, is based on lowering the quality of journalism
to take in more profits.
Many journalists strongly argue that the quality of journalism
has plummeted due to the increase in desire and drive for profits
that the newspaper owner companies have developed. Jay Harris,
for example, believes in the power journalists have to inform
the community and make positive changes within it. He believes
that this journalistic goal has been shattered due to desire for
profits. However, Knight Ridder, which has become the center of
accusation for lowering the quality of journalism, believes in
their strong commitment to journalism, and that they have not
allowed a decrease in the quality of journalism. Anthony Ridder,
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Knight Ridder,
said on the company's web site, "Public service journalism
is a very, very important goal of Knight Ridder."(3) Knight
Ridder has won 83 Pulitzer Prizes, the most prestigious award
in journalism.(4) Thus, it is hard to determine if the drive for
profits has hurt the quality of journalism.
On this web site, you will find links to the "Pro" and "Con" sides of this debate. The "pro" link presents the argument that profits have hurt journalism and the "con" link presents the argument that profits have not intruded on quality of journalism. On the bottom of each page, you will also find links to further your interest in this subject. Enjoy!
(1) Knight Ridder Corporate Website. "Coporate Structure."
(2) Andrews, Allan R. "How yellow is today's journalism?."
(3) Ridder, Anthony. "Journalism Can Make a Difference."
(4) Ibid 3.
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