SPJ - why the news is warped

the Society of Professional Journalists ^ | 25 Jun 2008 | Manfred the Wonder Dawg

[Manfred the Wonder Dawg]

I caught a bit of "The Factor" on TV. Dick Morris was talking about his new book (don't recall the title). In discussing the book, Morris mentioned the Society of Professional Journalists, which has established explicit guidelines for members - guidelines that affect the manner in which the "news" is presented to a largely unsuspecting public.

For example, on this page http://spj.org/blog/blogs/diversity/archive/2008/06/23/20797.aspx the SPJ explains why one should not use the term "illegal immigrant". A sample:

Both national and local media regularly refer to undocumented immigrants as illegal immigrants, or the most inflamatory phrase, illegal aliens (as if they came from another planet). Both are wrong, as a matter of law.

The phrase illegal alien was popularized by the anti-Latino organization, the "Minutemen," who conduct their seemingly racist operations along our border with Mexico.

In America, our federal Constitution guarentees that all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This is an important, fundimental principal of the criminal-justice system in our English, common-law system of jurisprudence. It is one of the reaons that we fought the Revolutionary War.

<--------- end of extract --------->

From a page covering rules for the so-called "War of Terror": http://www.spj.org/divguidelines.asp

Visual images

— Seek out people from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds when photographing Americans mourning those lost in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

— Seek out people from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds when photographing rescue and other public service workers and military personnel.

— Do not represent Arab Americans and Muslims as monolithic groups. Avoid conveying the impression that all Arab Americans and Muslims wear traditional clothing.

— Use photos and features to demystify veils, turbans and other cultural articles and customs.

— Make an extra effort to include olive-complexioned and darker men and women, Sikhs, Muslims and devout religious people of all types in arts, business, society columns and all other news and feature coverage, not just stories about the crisis.

— When writing about terrorism, remember to include white supremacist, radical anti-abortionists and other groups with a history of such activity.

— Do not imply that kneeling on the floor praying, listening to Arabic music or reciting from the Quran are peculiar activities.

— Avoid using word combinations such as "Islamic terrorist" or "Muslim extremist" that are misleading because they link whole religions to criminal activity. Be specific: Alternate choices, depending on context, include "Al Qaeda terrorists" or, to describe the broad range of groups involved in Islamic politics, "political Islamists." Do not use religious characterizations as shorthand when geographic, political, socioeconomic or other distinctions might be more accurate.

— Avoid using terms such as "jihad" unless you are certain of their precise meaning and include the context when they are used in quotations. The basic meaning of "jihad" is to exert oneself for the good of Islam and to better oneself.

— Ask men and women from within targeted communities to review your coverage and make suggestions.

[Manfred the Wonder Dawg]

Now you know a little of what Paul Harvey might describe as "the rest of the story" when you read or listen to "news".

Keep in mind that the news agencies do not exist to report news - they exist to generate money for their corporations. And they exist to influence public policy; one major way they do this is by warping the public's understanding of the news.

[LibFreeOrDie]

the SPJ explains why one should not use the term "illegal immigrant".

And Free Republic explains why one should not use the term "professional journalist."

[SatinDoll]

“Illegal alien” is the term found in Federal Statutes. What a bunch of idiots!

[Oatka]

Check out one reader's comment at the bottom of the page. A few professionals still exist.

B/S Journalism

[Libertarianize the GOP]

The same lack of an ability to reason that has given full rights to illegal enemy combatants at GITMO; there are two distinct categories of people in this country, aliens and citizens. Citizens can vote, aliens can not; citizens have a right to be in this country and can not be deported, aliens are here because we citizens choose to let them be. Blurring that distinction will wind up allowing for citizens to be denied their rights since it is not possible for our government to grant every human on the planet the same rights American citizens currently enjoy.

[Maine Mariner]

The previous post used the phrase “professional journalists”
You used the term bunch of idiots. I am beginning to think the phrases could be used interchangeably

[Manfred the Wonder Dawg]

You're being too kind. As so-called journalists, you'd think they have access to a dictionary: a·li·en (l-n, lyn) adj. 1. Owing political allegiance to another country or government; foreign: alien residents. 2. Belonging to, characteristic of, or constituting another and very different place, society, or person; strange. See Synonyms at foreign. 3. Dissimilar, inconsistent, or opposed, as in nature: emotions alien to her temperament. noun. 1. An unnaturalized foreign resident of a country. Also called noncitizen. 2. A person from another and very different family, people, or place. 3. A person who is not included in a group; an outsider. 4. A creature from outer space: a story about an invasion of aliens. 5. Ecology An organism, especially a plant or animal, that occurs in or is naturalized in a region to which it is not native. tr.v. a·li·ened, a·li·en·ing, a·li·ens Law To transfer (property) to another; alienate. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin alinus, from alius, other; see al-1 in Indo-European roots.] I think the moron fits better: noun 1. a person who is notably stupid or lacking in good judgment. 2. Psychology. a person of borderline intelligence in a former classification of mental retardation, having an intelligence quotient of 50 to 69. Compare feeble-minded. [Origin: 1905–10, Americanism; < Gk mōrón, neut. of mōrós foolish, dull] [note: I tried formatting this post so it wouldn't be one big paragraph and it refused to cooperate. Sorry about that, chief.]

[yarddog]

Basically the book is an instruction manual telling them how to twist everything to a leftist or liberal slant.

In other words use their positions for leftist propaganda. Anyone who watches the news with a truly objective eye will see that it is being done and done very effectively.

Through this Pavlovian conditioning they have changed the world in the last 50 years.

[DainBramage]

As in Im going to the bathroom to take an SPJ and wipe my professional journalist.

[Ditto]

Both national and local media regularly refer to undocumented immigrants as illegal immigrants, or the most inflamatory phrase, illegal aliens (as if they came from another planet).

Well I seem to recall something from 200 years ago called The Alien and Sedition Act which had nothing to do with visitors from another planet as well as in my own life time when the Federal INS used to run advertisements on the radio and television reminding Aliens (non US Citizens residing in the US) that they had to register with the INS every year.

Steal the language and change the meaning of words, and you can steal a civilization. The idea would make Karl Marx very happy and gay.

[Diogenesis]

These 'people' have one goal.

[clintonh8r]

This is why they deserve the financial hell they’re experiencing right now. After the “news”papers crash and burn, then MSNBC, NBC, CBS, CNN, etc.

[yarddog]

It is not just the journalists, it is all forms of media. I suppose many of them think they are doing good but twisting reality is usually not a good thing.

[IrishCatholic]

So what? I read it. It was from a liberal idiot on the blog the site has. It doesn't mean it is their position.

I think the guy is an idiot but it isn't accurate to paint the organization that way. I flipped through to their code of ethics and it seemed OK.

Think of it as someone posts anti Catholic posts here or evo/creationist posts or the Neo Confederates and suddenly all FR is painted as the same as those posters.

A non story unless the SPJ adopts it wholesale.

[Manfred the Wonder Dawg]

I do not think the rules for posting on FR are the same as on SPJ. The SPJ, no doubt, has a tighter reign on what can be posted and what they endorse.

I post plenty on anti-RCC 9which are in reality pro-Truth) posts on the religion forum here on FR and I know for a fact that FR doesn’t approve.

Yet we can see plenty of evidence in myriad news outlets that the SPJ blogs are endorsed and embraced by “journalists” across the greatest country on God’s green Earth.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

I did a search. These "guidelines" were on FR in 2002.

November 02, 2002 9:50:17 AM by twas

Here

I forgot how I came across them but I also posted the "guidelines" in 2003. The "guidelines" came just a few weeks after 9/11/01 at a Seattle SPJ meeting.

SPJ members are skid marks on journalism's shorts.

[SatinDoll]

Don’t fret over the paragraph thing.

I’ve written many posts in the last three days and for some darn reason two of them refused to format into paragraphs! Wrote’em that way but they wouldn’t stay that way. Very odd.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

SPJ guildelines were at this URL five years ago.

http://www.spj.org/diversity_profiling.asp

Now it's gone. Re-orgs happen. I did save other sources from years ago. To wit,

The Society of Politically Correct Journalists Media Monitor By Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid November 20, 2001. "When writing about terrorism, remember to include white supremacist, radical anti-abortionists and other groups with a history of such activity." The Society of Professional Journalists, the SPJ, has created a storm of controversy following the publishing of guidelines that read like a parody of political correctness. They urge journalists to slant their reporting to favor Muslims, Arabs and Islam . . . .

[reformedliberal]

In 2001 an American ex-pat journo friend of mine in NZ (a classical liberal) sent me the SPJ guidelines and seriously asked me where he could find the site for Conservative journalistic guidelines.

I told him that, as far as I knew, there wasn’t one.

He sent them to me because, at that point in time, I was being harrassed by journalists on another forum for using the word “Islamist” and I had sent him a copy of the exchange.

These guidelines are official SPJ policy and are taken quite seriously. Back then, they were just gearing up to silence anyone who didn’t follow along. Now, of course, you can lose a job over saying things the wrong way, not to mention an election.

FR can control its own site. SPJ tries to control all official journalism. Quite a difference.