Why don’t US citizens trust professional journalists?

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Smith Reilly
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
News Media ◽  
Reality Television ◽  
The United States ◽  
Civics Education ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Real Estate Developer ◽  
The Press

In 2016, the United States elected a populist president who had no public service, legal or military experience. Donald J. Trump was a New York real estate developer, known for his involvement in the Miss Universe Pageant, World Wide Wrestling and the reality television show, The Apprentice. Although the news media covered his unorthodox campaign extensively, after the election, the new president turned on the press, repeatedly accusing it of publishing ‘fake news’ about him and his administration and going so far as to call the press ‘the enemy of the people’. Alarmed by these accusations, journalists are discovering that without civics education in the public schools, US citizens no longer understand the role a free press plays in a democracy.

From the street to public service: ‘Humans of New York’ photographer’s journey to journalism

Journalism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 1480-1496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Roberts
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New Media ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Real Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Responsibilities ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Press ◽  
News Organizations

The ‘Humans of New York’ social media feed, featuring photographs of people in New York City – and in recent years also Iran, Syria, and other locations – has amassed nearly 18 million Facebook followers, spawned multiple books, and inspired various copy-cat projects. Over the 6 years since its creation, the feed has evolved from an assortment of photos of individuals in New York to an intentional, morally conscious portrait of the perspectives and lived experiences of the inhabitants of New York and other places, and has resulted in real-life consequences for the subjects, ranging from donations to projects to invitations from the president of the United States. This article analyzes the ‘Humans of New York’ posts in the context of public service ideals of modern journalism as laid out by scholars, professional journalism societies, and leading news organizations. This analysis considers the perspective of the posts through the captions that accompany each post and finds that, since 2011, the feed has changed its narrative focus from the photographer to the subjects, who share their stories in their own words. In this way, the ‘Humans of New York’ feed satisfies several aspects of the public service ideal of journalism, lending support to the idea that new media sites created by non-professionals, or citizen journalists, may be able to satisfy some of the social responsibilities of the press, and offer lessons for both professionals and amateurs.

Coverage of a Crisis: The Effects of International News Portrayals of Refugees and Misuse of the Term “Immigrant”

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hoewe
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
News Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
International News ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Stories ◽  
The Press ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
Intense Debate ◽  
The U.S

Given the intense debate surrounding the United States’ policies regarding admission of refugees and immigrants into the country, this study set out to determine how the news media cover refugees and how that coverage influences news consumers. This research examines how news stories informed the public about the individuals affected by the wars in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In particular, it explores usage of the word “refugee” as opposed to “immigrant” to determine how individuals fleeing their home countries were described by the press. A content analysis revealed that U.S. newspapers were more likely than international newspapers to conflate the term “immigrant” with “refugee.” Also, when refugees were incorrectly described as “immigrants,” references to terrorism were more likely. The experimental portion of this research tested how news consumers respond to this framing of “refugee” versus “immigrant” in the same war-torn situation. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans who read about individuals labeled as “refugees” did not distinguish them from “immigrants” in the same situation, indicating they may have adopted the U.S. news media’s conflation of these terms. Republicans, however, had more negative perceptions of both refugees and immigrants than did Democrats or Independents, reporting greater perceptions of threat and favoring more stringent policy. These results suggest that American news consumers do not distinguish between refugees and immigrants in terms of policy, which at least partially implicates U.S. news media for not providing a solid benchmark for understanding these groups of people.

scholarly journals Editorial: Are They Listening? Policymakers and Their Role in Public Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. i-iii
Author(s):  
Abbie R. Strunc
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
News Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Grassroots Organizations ◽  
Media Advocacy ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Cyclical Process ◽  
Area Of Concern

In the United States the policy making process claims to be a cyclical process which drives politicians, dictates policies drafted, and legislation ultimately passed. The process begins with the people bringing issues, ideas, and concerns to the attention of the news media, advocacy groups, grassroots organizations, or interest groups. Ideally these groups connect the concerns of the people to elected officials and/ or courts who respond by creating policies which address these concerns. This is an over-simplified ideal. The reality of policymaking is messy, partisan, and the results frequently fail to address the concerns of the public, or create more unintended consequences than solve problems. Public education is an area of concern most familiar with unintended consequences.

Tonsil Riots and Vaccine Hesitancy: A 100-Year Legacy of Medical Mistrust

2021 ◽  
pp. 019459982110377
Author(s):  
James Alrassi ◽  
James Cochran ◽  
Richard M. Rosenfeld
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Humility ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Medical Mistrust ◽  
Parental Consent ◽  
The Public

The “tonsil riots” of 1906 were panics that developed at several public schools in historically immigrant-dominated neighborhoods of New York City (NYC). Per archived newspaper articles, several NYC public schools asked for parental consent to have Board of Health physicians come and perform tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy on their students. When children subsequently returned home from school “drooling mouthfuls of blood and barely able to speak,” mothers reacted with panic and flocked to the schools demanding the safe return of their children. Police, ultimately, had to be called in to manage the crowds, and the events of 1906 largely faded from the public eye. However, these events can offer important lessons in communication and cultural humility as the United States continues its mass vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019.

How to Tell the Truth without Outraging the Press?

MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Li Xiguang
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Stories ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Chinese News Media

The commercialization of meclia in China has cultivated a new journalism business model characterized with scandalization, sensationalization, exaggeration, oversimplification, highly opinionated news stories, one-sidedly reporting, fabrication and hate reporting, which have clone more harm than good to the public affairs. Today the Chinese journalists are more prey to the manipu/ation of the emotions of the audiences than being a faithful messenger for the public. Une/er such a media environment, in case of news events, particularly, during crisis, it is not the media being scared by the government. but the media itself is scaring the government into silence. The Chinese news media have grown so negative and so cynica/ that it has produced growing popular clistrust of the government and the government officials. Entering a freer but fearful commercially mediated society, the Chinese government is totally tmprepared in engaging the Chinese press effectively and has lost its ability for setting public agenda and shaping public opinions. 

PERMISSION TO CONDUCT THE FIRST STUDY OF THE HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS OF CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-311
Author(s):  
T. E. C.
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Harvard Medical School ◽  
The United States ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
The Public ◽  
Boston Public Schools ◽  
School Committee ◽  
Boston School

The beginning of all growth studies in this country occurred less than a century ago when the Boston School Committee approved the following order permitting Henry Pickering Bowditch, Professor of Physiology at the Harvard Medical School, to measure and weigh children in the Boston public schools. This document is one of the great, and I believe little known, landmarks in modern pediatrics.1 In School Committee, March 9, 1875 Ordered, That permission be given to Prof. Henry P. Bowditch, of Harvard University, to ascertain the height and weight of the pupils attending the public school, through such an arrangement as the respective chairman and the headmaster, or masters, may deem most convenient.

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