Rhetoric is not the only field within communication studies that focuses on social change and public argument. In fact, one field of communication is often recognized as the most visible site of public argument and debate: Journalism. While the field of journalism itself developed out of record-keeping, journalists have long been advocates of social issues and social responsibility. The rhetorical responsibility of journalists and journalism has been given attention at multiple points in the history of news media. In our current political climate, this discussion has returned to prominent public view (Pew 2014a, 2014b).
Communication technologies have had a profound impact on the spread of news and how journalism works (Stephens, 2006). Consider the impact of news "for sale":
Audience awareness of and participation in journalism in recent years has changed how producers of mass communication attempt to reach audiences. While some "mainstream" news sources are still aimed at the largest possible audience, shifts of populations into consumer groups associated with ideological and political silos (Pew Research Center, 2014a, 2014b) have resulted in news being marketed with direct appeals to specified, siloed audiences (de Zuniga, Correa, & Valenzuela, 2012; Pew Research Center, 2014a, 2014b). This has had the negative impact of creating ideological segregation between groups of people with epistemological differences receiving different news (Balmas, 2012; de Zuniga et al., 2012; Hicks & Turner, 2013; Mihailidis & Viotty, 2017; Pew Research Center, 2014b). Therefore, news media has developed a tendency to cater confirmation biases in consumer choices, and the result is potentially manipulative and, in some cases, unverifiable news.
The Fourth Estate
Consider, for example, the relationship between the media and the government leading up to and since the 2016 US Presidential election. Donald Trump both during and after his rise to the Presidency often attacked main-stream media as too corporate, liberal in bias, and critical of his person (Davies, 2016; Jamieson & Taussig, 2017). He further accused the press of creating "fake news" to attack him, in contrast to media and scholarly reports that over 70 percent of what Trump had communicated to his constituents leading up to the election itself was found to be false and unverifiable creating the label "fake news" to refer to Trump himself. This conflict between government entities and the media reaches much farther back into history than just the current era.
The development of the press, or what we call news media, was profoundly influenced by the invention of the printing press and movable type. Before this invention, most news was reported through oral communication practices, such as a messenger conveying a message to a town or castle. Obviously, these messages could not reach large numbers of people quickly or with an ability to be consistent in word and phrase. Gutenberg’s invention changed this, and the first widely distributed periodical was printed in Europe in 1594. By the mid 1660s most nations had their own news journals or newspapers. The first daily newspaper began distribution in 1702 in England (Barrès-Baker, 2006; Stephens, 2006).
The relationship between journalism and advocacy became prominent in the 1700s, particularly due to Independence movements in the American Colonies. Examples of propaganda also developed, and flourished within journalism (Davidson, 1941; Schlesinger, 1980). Leading up to the time of the American Revolution most of the colonial papers were anti-Royalist, as they were published by colonists with revolutionary goals (Schlesinger, 1980). In fact, after the Boston Massacre in 1770, most colonial newspapers discussed the atrocity and that is where the label of “massacre” was initially used to stir members of other colonies against British rule (Davidson, 1941; Schlesinger, 1980; Smith, 1976a, 1976b). Pamphlets, newsletters, and other printed media also were used to enflame the Colonists’ resistance to the British. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, published in 1776, is one of the best-known examples of anti-British propaganda (Hogan & Williams, 2000; Paine, 1775-1776/2004). By the time the war began the Sons of Liberty, a radical group based in Boston, had effectively used newspapers and the press to attack the British government and stir up the goal of rebellion in the rest of the Colonies (Schlesinger, 1980).
Journalists have maintained that tradition throughout the following centuries, often playing partisan roles in social movements such as abolition, suffrage, civil rights, anti-vietnam protests, and, more currently, gay rights movements. For many, the journalist is one of the best ways for those silenced voices discussed earlier to be heard. The impact of the Press on social and political change has led to the News Media being labeled The Fourth Estate. This label dates to 1787 in England, when Edmund Burke discussed the role of the "fourth estate" and a "free press" as crucial to democratic government (Carlyle, 1840/2008). This ideal was included in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, rooted in the belief that a free press was necessary. Consider the image below of Southeast Asia countries' Freedom of the Press scores from 2012 to 2013. The higher scores indicate that the press in that nation has more press freedoms, and therefore more ability to report information contrary to government ideals.
Thomas Carlyle (1840/2008) explained Burke's discussion that there were “Three Estates in Parliament; but in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far then they all.” The first three Estates, or political powers in this concept of British Government are 1) the Church, 2) the House of Lords, and 3) the House of Commons. In defining the Press as having the same political significance as the Houses of Parliament and the Church, Carlyle was pointing out the impact that journalism, with its ability to reach and potentially sway a large audience, plays a major role in shaping political futures. We saw some evidence of how this plays out when we examined Agenda Setting Theory (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) in module 2. The ability for the media to sway public opinion remains clear today.
Sensationalism, Tabloids, and Exploitation
Journalism is a powerful means of reaching and altering public opinion, but there are ethical considerations in this role. Very often the owners of newspapers and news organizations have their own agendas and goals that become prominent in the way that news is reported. In the 1880s and 1890s this became a common practice (Stephens, 2006). During this era, one we often discuss as the era of Yellow Journalism, newspaper owners William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, in an attempt to increase publication, encouraged sensational reporting and the printing of scandals in their papers (Campbell, 2006; Örnebring & Jönsson, 2004; Spencer, 2007). Yellow Journalism led to the development of the Scandal Sheet, tabloid journalism, and the paparazzi as newspapers competed for larger or target audiences (Örnebring & Jönsson, 2004).
Other, smaller publications became associated with the term Muckraking as reporters were encouraged to investigate for scandal and uncover issues that would appeal to large audiences (Feldstein, 2006; Serrin & Serrin, 2002). This muckraking had positive influences in terms of social justice, as it led to the uncovering of bad workplace conditions in the meatpacking industry, the poor conditions of the Chicago slums, and the monopolies of the oil barons (Streitmatter, 2015). This was an important development in terms of social movements, as it led to the founding of many labor unions, workers rights movements, the minimum wage law, and other legal rights for working class citizens (Feldstein, 2006). And journalists, writers, and public speakers, with their ability to reach out to the general public and sway opinion, led the charge.
As the news industry grew during the twentieth century, dominant news networks became the major outlet for information disseminated to the general public. In the United States, the rise of the big three major television networks had a profound impact on the news, as each network began it's own News programming, hired anchor people that the public would welcome into their homes, and determined, through Agenda Setting, what information would be beneficial to the American Public (McCombs & Shaw, 1972). By the 1960s a "new journalism" had become prominent, where the journalist tells the story first hand and with literary and storytelling techniques—much like had been common during the era of Muckraking and Yellow Journalism (Eason, 1982).
Again, the ability of "The Press" to function as the Fourth Estate or the fourth system of power is clear. In fact, many scholars argue that during the Vietnam War, it was the ability for journalists in Vietnam to provide detail and visual information through television news programs into people's living rooms that created momentum within the Anti-Vietnam protest movement (Bailey, 1976; Hallin, 1989).
Media Proliferation, Narrow-Casting, and Targeted News
As first Cable television and then the Internet began to provide alternative news programs, some of the news monopoly was broken up and alternative news sources in any of a variety of formats (i.e. The Daily Show) came into existence (Utley, 1997). However, the lack of monopoly in news media is not as clear as it would appear: currently 5 corporations own over 90% of the media industry (Hanretty, 2014; Noam, 2016). For this reason many consumers have been drawn away from mainstream and “traditional” media outlets in favor of social media such Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and to alternative and news sources labeled as “independent” but firmly fixed on the extreme right- and left-wing political spectrum, such as Brietbart (right) and the Foundation for National Progress, which publishes Mother Jones (left), without recognizing the corporate ownership and standard agenda setting goals of these supposedly "alternative" sources. In fact, several studies reveal that many of these alternative sources on both extremes are actually owned by the same people who are most likely out to make money, regardless of political leaning (Bergman, 2017). This results in news sources, both "mainstream" and "alternative" geared toward specific and limited audiences, with little focus on facts and forensic process. Consider the image below as a form of specalized and targeted news media.
The ability to monitor these media for accuracy and credibility is more complex than for traditional media. On the one hand, the sheer number of sites available also implies that a person will be able to learn about a topic from multiple points of view. However, this can also lead to siloing or limited viewpoints being experienced by individuals who are drawn to sources they already agree with. Journalistic ethics developed in the twentieth century as a means of avoiding a repeat of the era of Yellow Journalism, yet those ethics are not maintained across the board in today's media markets. Ideally, journalists report the news rather than making judgments about it. Yet, biases clearly exist in different news media outlets, as can be seen by comparing MSNBC and Fox News coverage of the same political event. However, journalistic ethics require accuracy in reporting, credible sources, and clear data similarly to Toulmin’s (1958) argumentative and forensic goals.
References
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