Journalistic Standards in the Matt Drudge Era

4449 Words9 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How the internet has affected the practice of journalism

Journalistic Standards in the Matt Drudge Era

Introduction

Public trust is at the heart of journalism. Such trust is built upon the credibility journalistic efforts. In the past, though mistakes have been made by even the most reputable of news providers, credibility was maintained and public trust in the journalist industry was steady. However, with the Internet taking its first infant steps into the reporting world, concern is being vocalized that public trust in journalism will be damaged by mavericks, such as Matt Drudge, who, without any foundation in reporting seek to tell the entire world every little secret he can dig up. And he’s been wrong.

This paper will examine the debate surrounding online journalism, including a general look at journalistic standards and an account of Matt Drudge’s activities as an Internet investigative reporter. With the pressures of staying current with technology, news services scramble to grab a piece of the Internet “pie,” but struggle to determine what the ethical standards should be and how public trust can be maintained in an environment where anyone with a computer and online capability can be a reporter.

Review of Literature

“Let the future begin.” These words closed Matt Drudge’s introduction during his June 2, 1998, address before the National Press Club. His topic: “Anyone with a modem can report on the world.” Times are changing and “traditional journalism” is finding it difficult to adapt. The Internet as a mass communications vehicle is challenging many accepted norms. Journalistic standards and ethics are among the most debated topics.

Though Matt Drudge is certainly not the only person reporting online news in a method inconsistent with traditional st...

... middle of paper ...

...99: 24.

Ryan, Leslie, “In Drudge Era, Educators Make Case of J-Schools,” Electronic Media, Vol. 17 (39) 1998: 26-27.

Sandberg, Jared, “Call It the Drudgegate Affair,” Newsweek, Vol. 134 (22) 1999: 50.

Snyder, Beth; Kerwin, Ann Marie, “’Clintern’ Story Raises Issues for Cyberjournalism,” Advertising Age, Vol. 69 (5) 1998: 32.

Stevenson, Kerry, “The Technology, Business, and Ethics of News,” International Broadcast Engineer (IBE), Oct 1999: 44.

Swaine, Michael, “Error-Correcting Journalism,” Dr. Dobb’s Journal: Software Tools for the Professional Programmer, Issue 313, 2000: 152.

Webster, Nancy Coltun, “Drudge Report,” Advertising Age, Vol. 69 (26) 1998: S22.

Weir, David, “Web Journalism Crosses Many Traditional Lines,” Nieman Reports, Vol. 54 (4) 2000: 35-38.

Wilson-Smith, Anthony, “What’s New About the Web,” Maclean’s, Vol. 113 (29) 2000: 14.

Show More
Related

  • A Prayer for Owen Meany

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    In literature of significant standing, no act of violence is perpetrated without reason. For a story to be legitimate in the area of fine literature violence cannot be used in a wanton manner. In John Irving’s modern classic, A Prayer for Owen Meany the audience is faced with multiple scenes of strong violence but violence is never used without reason. All of the violent acts depicted in the novel are totally necessary for the characters and the plot to develop. This plot-required violence can be seen in the novel’s first chapter when Owen accidentally kills John’s mother and in the novel’s last chapter when John relates Owen’s grotesque, while heroic, death to the audience. The violence that is shown in this novel is used in such a calculated manner that it leaves a great impression on the audience.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Page One: Inside The New York Times

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    I say this because there were points in which I personally could not really understand what was going on due to my lack of exposure to this problem that American journalism is facing. More specifically, terminology that was used, especially from business standpoints, and the different companies that were involved made it harder to keep up with the issue at hand. However, with a little editing and better explanation of terminology, I think that this film could extend to a wide audience that would include both digital natives and digital immigrants that are experiencing this transition within American news reporting. This paper will examine the difference between old and new journalism and its new standards, “The New York Times Effect” and its 21st century challenges, important qualifications to be a successful journalist, and the future role of journalism within American society.

    Read More

  • Propositions for Mitigating the Effects of Global Hunger

    1542 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are many causes to hunger in Africa and other developing countries some include; weather conditions, poor agriculture, limited resources, natural disasters, and economy. (Robbins, 2012). The hungry people are not censurable. Hunger isn’t just the issue, the gist of the issue in its self, is economy. Close to one billion people live in deep penury, in the world today. (Robbins, 2012). If you don’t have money then you don’t have food, it is as simple as that. Poverty, food prices, and hunger are inextricably linked (Anderson, 2007). So the real question is; how can poverty be solved to stop hunger? One sixth of the world does not have enough food to be healthy and active. (Robbins, 2002). It takes 30 billion dollars to feed the hungry for a year. (Boren Project, 2013). If every person in the United States gave ten cents, world hunger could be stopped for a whole year. (Boren Project, 2013 and USC, 2014). Eve...

    Read More

  • Facts That Lead To Poverty: Th

    1907 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first and the most serious problem that causes by poverty are hunger, or preciously, malnutrition. We can find these kinds of problems almost all over Africa and some other underdeveloped countries. These were witnessed by thousands of people through TV, radio, newspaper, journals, etc. “In the early 1980s, the mass media dramatically brought us the picture of hunger from Africa – starving children, skin and bone, with their bloated bellies, too weak to even stand up.'; (Warnock p.1) At the same time, people living in more developed countries or wealthy states are enjoying different kinds of delicious meals and dumping whatever they don’t like. Why would this happen? Can we refer this to the government or economical policies that rise the problems? To further explore the problem of hunger in Africa, we can easily relate this to poverty. In fact, there may be some other problems that cause the hunger. For example, local drought in the African Sahel that damages the cropping; which in turn shorten the local food supplies. The other factor is the rapid population growth in Africa. Increasing capita means an increase demand of food. People in Africa are rarely taught the knowledge of birth-control. “If you have money you eat well, no matter how fast the population around you is growing and no matter how short the supplies of energy or land or fertilizer.'; (Kent p.77) According to Kent’s view, we shall see that money can buy off th...

    Read More

  • prayer for owen meany

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    In an attempt to portray Owen as a figure of Christ, Irving gives subtle hints in aiming for readers to come to the conclusion that Owen is a symbolic character. When Owen becomes a part of the cast for the Christmas play, the part being that of the child of Christ, Irving finishers the chapter with Dan singing a part of the Christmas Carol. Irving wants the readers to be able to connect the dots and to see that Owen is following in the same footsteps on a spiritual level, more so than the average person. Once Owen plays the part of the child of Christ, it becomes clear that he is playing the role with an authority that is beyond human. Meany has to sacrifice his own life in order to save the lives of others and appears twice to John after his death, just as Christ rose from the dead.

    Read More

  • Malnutrition In Sub Saharan Africa

    212 Words  | 1 Pages

    Malnutrition: Sub-Saharan Africa attempts at a comparative analysis of the dynamics and structure of malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa in concentration: Somalia and Ethiopia. The analysis of this paper can be viewed as an on-going discussion and investigation about the food hunger crisis as a diverting factor in malnutrition within Sub-Saharan Africa. Within the last 10 years, the area of Sub-Saharan African has grown by five percent per year; nonetheless, the Afrobarometer surveyed that thirty-four African countries (including Somalia and Ethiopia) has experience little change in poverty or food crisis among its population (Sy, “Jobless Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa”). According, to the International Labor Office (ILO) the data in 2013 it

    Read More

  • World Hunger Essay

    1592 Words  | 4 Pages

    When the topic of world hunger is broached, the majority of people’s minds will automatically equate the two words with an impossible-to-solve problem affecting only Africa. However, to make that connection is inaccurate, and ultimately damaging to the actual efforts being made towards eradicating hunger. There are more than 870 million individuals in the world who suffer from chronic undernourishment, with the majority of undernourished individuals residing in Asia or the Pacific. While Africa understandably rises to the forefront of the mind when hunger is discussed, the statistics prove that hunger permeates into a plethora of regions, and affects a wide range of countries, cultures, and age groups. Despite its wide reach, global hunger is a solvable problem. The fact that a solution has not yet been implemented speaks loudly to the lack of cooperation being exhibited throughout the world. There is more than enough food to end world hunger; it is merely a lack of proactivity and cooperation among those in power that continues to allow the problem to grow. Solving world hunger may seem to be a daunting task, but a solution is within reach as long as a more cohesive semblance of cooperation throughout the globe (including both developed and developing countries) is achieved. This cooperation would embrace the sharing of excess goods to countries in need of them, as well the establishment of sustainable agricultural systems in countries currently lacking them—goals which are only achievable through recognition of the problem and an increased involvement by the entire globe.

    Read More

  • The Causes Of Hunger In Sub-Saharan Africa

    1905 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1798, the political economist Thomas Malthus referred to extensive hunger as a natural system that ensured a properly sized population that was balanced with the food supply, and the global population adapted this idea as their view on world hunger (Dando 197). It was not until the 1970s when this idea began to be truly challenged. Today, commercials displaying starving African children are no rare sight. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 33 million children under 5 are malnourished (Stanford 46). Everyone is aware of the hunger crisis, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, but what causes this extreme hunger is not quite as well known. Hunger has stemmed from several political, economic, and environmental issues: poverty traps, climate change,

    Read More

  • Crisis of African Agriculture

    2006 Words  | 5 Pages

    The continent of Africa is home to over seven hundred million people. About half of these people do not get enough food to eat, partly due to low productivity on the farms, poor distribution networks and very little money for farmers to invest in improving their situations. This all contributes to the agricultural crisis going on in Africa.

    Read More

  • Journalism and Social Media

    1332 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Journalism Ethics Online Journalism Ethics Gatekeeping." Journalism Ethics for the Global Citizen. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. .

    Read More

  • The Importance of Accuracy in Journalism

    1913 Words  | 4 Pages

    Demir, Muge. "Importance Of Ethic, Credibility And Reliability In Online Journalism." European Journal Of Social Science 24.4 (2011): 537-545.

    Read More

  • Print Media vs Digital Media

    1470 Words  | 3 Pages

    Paul Grabowicz. "The Transition to Digital Journalism." Print and Broadcast News and the Internet. N.p., 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 27 May 2014.

    Read More

  • The Future of Responsible Journalism

    1146 Words  | 3 Pages

    In trying to attract new audiences, news media have begun to transition from reporting to becoming a form of entertainment. With the meteoric rise of social media’s role as a news source, the fight for an increase of diversity in the media, and the ever-growing desire of immediate content, the future of responsible journalism is more important than ever. Ask yourself, why do I think the way I do? Where do my political views originate? How do I prove them? Most likely, it is due to the biased portrayal of issues in the media and the politicization that accompanies what we consume. Now, compare your views to your preferred news reporting entity. More than likely, they are the same.

    Read More

  • Is Journalism a Profession?

    2831 Words  | 6 Pages

    Journalism: a profession under pressure? Journal of Media Business Studies, 6, 37-59. Scannell, P. (1995). The 'Secondary'. Social aspects of media history, Unit 9 of the MA in Mass. Communications (By Distance Learning).

    Read More

  • Segmentation In Business Communication

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    The purpose of this course work is to provide the reader with information to assist with all aspects of Business Communication. Business Communication is the sharing of information between people within an enterprise that is performed for the commercial benefit of the organization. Business communication also refers to how an establishment shares its information to promote its product or services to potential customers. A business is a person, partnership or corporation that engages in the interchange of goods or commodities, manufacturing, or a service for profit or concern; communication is the interaction of people with one another, hence we can say that business communication is the interaction of a company and the persons seeking items or services. In completing this course work it is intended to provide the reader with the characteristics of business communication; types of business communication and the effective business communication skills that are vital to successful co-worker and customer interactions.

    Read More

More about Journalistic Standards in the Matt Drudge Era

Open Document