Chapter 4: Social Justice
This chapter explains news media’s longstanding goal of serving the minority groups in society and a need for a more compassionate journalism. The chapter introduces four problems of social justice on a different scale but involving typical issues of justice nonetheless. In all cases, a responsible press is seen to play a critical role. All four situations assume that genuine social concerns are at stake and not just high-powered special-interest groups and authoritarian governments seeking their own ends. Each of the five examples pertains to the disenfranchised: refugees in the first case, the poor in the second, women in the third, and the victims of war in the fourth. In all cases, the reporters felt some measure of obligation. Although the news media’s response is sometimes extremely weak, no cause is dismissed out of hand by journalists in these situations.
Chapter 4 – Video Introduction
Case 16
Discussion Questions
- What role may the use of statistics play in the coverage of the refugee crisis?
- How can statistics be misused in the reporting of the refugee crisis?
- How can “compassion fatigue” be differentiated from anti-immigration sentiments?
Weblinks
- AP News: “Adrift”
- Short documentary that goes explains how reporters from the Associated Press went through covering this story, and shows the lengths that the reporters went through to get thourough coverage.
- The Swimmers: Movie Trailer (2022)
- Story of a pair of Syrian refugee sisters that went on to swim in the 2016 Olympics
- Visa advertisement: “The Swim” (2016)
- Depicting the same event
- This relates to different ways of covering the refugee crisis, and potential “compassion fatigue”
Case 17
Discussion Questions
- Are journalists obligated to provide solutions for problems that they raise or discover? Why or why not?
- What might stop news outlets and journalists from “becoming experts in a topic” and doing reporting like The Charleston Gazzette.
Weblinks
- “A Hidden America” Peabody Awards
- “A Hidden America” clips, ABC News Youtube
- Update: “How Viewers Helped”, ABC News YouTube
Case 18
Discussion Questions
- How have certain societal norms or expectations changed since the focus of many movements has shifted to informing consumers about the sexist content in media, rather than changing the media itself?
- Can the Veil of Ignorance be employed in reporting to help improve the number of women’s voices present within media?
- What might be some downsides of implementing this principle? What might be overlooked if it is applied?
Weblinks
- Global Media Monitoring Project website
- Global Media Monitoring Project video, “SARAH MACHARIA, WACC, The power of media monitoring: the Global Media Monitoring Project”
- GenderLinks and Global Media Monitoring Project
Case 19
Discussion Questions
- What might be the consequences of dropping neutrality in reporting on war, and implementing Judeo-Christian ethics in war coverage?
- How might the Golden Rule be implemented in a reporting plan?
Weblinks
- Ukraine Conflict Updates, Insititute for the Study of War
- University of Oxford, “Perceptions of media coverage of the war in Ukraine”
- NPR, “Not every war gets the same coverage as Russia’s invasion”
- Council on Foreign Relations, “Covering the War in Ukraine: The View From Journalists”