Wednesday, September 23, 2015

The Pope With Dreadlocks and a Dog With a Bandana?

Progressive media watchdog group, Media Matters for America, put together the video above, with random soundbites from conservative pundits.

First, is this journalism? Is it good journalism?

Second, is it fair? Or, are the quotes presented without any context and therefore potentially misleading?

Finally, is this package convincing? Should it be?

12 comments:

Thomas Beck said...

This series of clips represents purely bad journalism. No outside context is provided, and the compilation offers only one side of the argument at hand. The Pope and his advocates are not given a chance to refute any of these claims. The package is, however, very convincing, due largely in part to its skillful assembly. But consumers should not be bamboozled into thinking that a conservative viewpoint on the matter is the only or necessarily correct one.

Anonymous said...

It's not Journalism, but at the same time, are the shows that they got the clips from Journalistic too?

Unknown said...

I do not think that this package was fair. It was very slanted and very bias and took away from the point of journalism. There was no context given and it was made for a sole purpose: to turn people against the pope. The pope is a leader and it's a good thing that he cares about the world and doesn't just stand to be a religious figurehead and nothing else. He cares about the world, and this video did not show the opposite side of the argument. Both sides needed to be shown for it to be fair, yet it was clearly a one sided video!

Josh Wilson said...

I think it's journalism, but it's not good journalism. No context leads misleading quotes, and viewers can not form their own opinion because the information they are being shown is quite biased. This, to me, falls more under the "blog" side of journalism, since it is so biased and opinionated.

Grace Shallow said...

I think this is definitely journalism and the fact that it expresses partisanship/bias against "right-wing" media does not change this fact. I feel consumers of primarily American media are so accustomed to "neutral" or "objective" reporting that we see such traits as the top factor in deciding whether journalism is good or bad. Hence, I do not think this video is bad because of its bias but more because of the way the makers of the video may have misconstrued what the journalists portrayed are saying.

Anonymous said...

This clip represents bad journalism. There is absolutely no objectivity presented. It's clearly filled with left-wing bias and is using this compilation as an attack on the right-wing conservative station that is Fox News. Whether or not the information presented is accurate, and it probably is, there is no context to any of the quick audio clips presented. Although I personally agree that the right-wing conservatives were unfair with their reporting of the pope, I just don't think that the creators of this video represented the argument well. This was journalism, just not good journalism However, to someone who does not pick up on bias very quickly, the package is convincing. It's convincing, but it shouldn't be.

-Taylor Allen

Robert Wurtenberg said...

I think it is Journalism, but it's not great journalism. I feel as if the video is completely on sided and biased. There is no evidence to support the other end of this. All you see is the Pope, who is an influential leader in this world, being bashed by the media and it is wrong that this is the way they decided to handle this and try to turn people against him.

Jenna Faccenda said...

This definitely bad Journalism. There is no real information provided. Sure you can call this covering Unusualness, but it is way too biased.

Ashley Paskill said...

This video, in itself, is not journalism. It is just a biased collection of videos that cover journalists and their biased views of the Pope. The video is very biased. It isn't fair, because the quotes are taken out of context, and only one side is presented. Many news anchors that I saw report on the Pope's visit absolutely love him, but those views are not presented here. I am not convinced by this video, but whether it should be or not could go either way. This video itself isn't journalism, so there is no need for it to not be biased.

Unknown said...

I agree with my classmates who say that the video alone is not Journalism. However, certain parts of the clip where reporters and anchors are challenging the ideas of the Pope supported by FACTS and context is journalism. I think when reporters state any form of opinion or thought provoking ideas people assume that it is not Journalism because it is considered "bias". To me journalists are the voice of the people, so if the public audience also pose the same questions or ideas it is not unethical for Journalists to say them. In fact that is good journalism to me. Not to be confused, I think some parts of the clip are outrageous and unethical examples of journalism. But at the same time the ideas expressed in the clip should absolutely be topics journalists discuss and address.

Anonymous said...

Adriana Vela

I think it can be Journalism, just not complete and it should be more professional and the clips were not very clear.

James Dougherty said...

Although it is a very one sided video it can be said that some of the clip is journalism. In order for it to be journalism they need to present the "unbiased truth", which in this video some of the people do not do. As a result those parts of the video are not journalism, but with the anchors reporting stories, that can be considered journalism. It is not very fair because it is only presenting one sided views and not looking at all of the views.