Module 9 Flashcards
1
Q
What are media aggregators?
A
web sites, applications, and software that cull content from other digital sources
2
Q
Types of media channels:
A
- Word of mouth (dinner table conversation, water cooler gossip)
- Print (newspapers, magazines)
- Broadcast (radio, TV)
- Electronic (a rapidly growing number of online and mobile outlets)
3
Q
4 key journalistic roles:
A
- Gatekeepers. We already mentioned the important role journalists play in helping us understand what is important and why. Not all journalists perform this role—it belongs to editors and major reporters who decide what should be covered and what should not.
- Disseminators. Disseminators are reporters who just focus on getting out facts. Sometimes they are criticized for not providing the public with enough context in which to interpret the facts, but they believe that providing such context goes beyond the scope of their job.[Page 298]
- Investigators/analysts. These journalists (like Farrow and others), responding to the criticism that they need to provide context, dig for information and interpret its significance. It is difficult to do this without letting one’s own values creep in, but the best are experts at compartmentalizing their personal views.
- Public mobilizers. These journalists go beyond the reporting of objective analysis of facts. They have an agenda, and they consider it to be part of their job to make citizens aware of what is going on around them and to encourage them to take action. In the age of Twitter, it is a lot easier to discern the personal views even of journalists who try to stay objective on the job, but it is also easier to challenge and interact with those who urge a political agenda.
