Journalism needs to cover society like a cartographer rather than a marketer, and that need is more important than ever. The more we brand our news and appeal to this niche or that, the more we allow stereotypes to fester, often because those perpetuating them have not been exposed to the issues, concerns, pressures and aspirations of underrepresented groups.
When you conceive “community” as a geographic rather than psychographic place, you are forced to become inclusive, or else you omit groups that interact within that physical space. Those interactions constitute news and inform the community about a wide range of viewpoints, attitudes and lifestyles. Cartography also compels us to acknowledge the common bonds of place, often resulting in respect for one another.
On one level, my cartography metaphor only discusses omissions in the journalistic record. What about obvious stereotypes that reporters and editors commit simply because their own lifestyles or values differ from those of others within the coverage area?
To address these and other concerns, the
Greenlee
School
has a stand-alone class titled “Ethnicity, Gender, Class and the Media” whose course description reads as follows: “Portrayals of ethnic groups, genders, and classes in the media in news, information, and entertainment; the effects of mass media on social issues and population groups.”
A stand-alone class, of course, is the minimal requirement concerning inclusiveness. This is why NLGJA is exploring the cartography of curricula to ascertain the range of issues being discussed in our classrooms.
Joel Geske, who heads our advertising degree program, makes a point of inserting LGBT examples in all of his lectures. “For example,” he writes in an e-mail, “when we talk about TV storyboards, one of them is the famous IKEA TV ad where two men are buying a dining set together.”
“Also,” he adds, “when we play ads in class, some are gay themed (thank you YouTube for making things easy to find)! When I toss out stacks of magazines on the table for students to find examples, I make sure there are a diversity of titles like Ebony, The Advocate, Vegetarian Times, and liberal and conservative titles. It isn't always a matter of making a big production of the issue. It is just a matter of making sure diverse images are included as a matter of course.”
In Dr. Geske’s creativity class, students spend a day discussing diversity in the characters in their work and in the models that they use. “That talk focuses around using a diversity of ages, ethnic backgrounds and the issue of LGBT images — some of which are what is termed ‘gay vague’ or images that can be interpreted as ‘friends’ or ‘more than friends,’ depending on the viewer.”
Dr. Geske points out, however, that
Iowa
State
University
has not embraced or actively supported a curriculum in LGBT issues such as exists with Women's Studies or African-American Studies programs. Nor has the institution committed to a director or advocate for those issues on campus.
“I think that hurts visibility for the issue, even though there are most likely more LGBT students, faculty and staff on campus than there are other minority populations.” Dr. Geske acknowledges that this belief is difficult to determine because, as far as we know, no one collects data on LGBT community members. “Without a faculty advocate and champion there is little impetus for faculty members to do all the work with little reward,” he states.
David Saldana, who teaches an introductory journalism writing course, addresses LGBT issues in his lecture on diversity. He expresses how ill-chosen words or images are apt to damage both the reporter’s and the outlet’s credibility. “The gist of my lecture is that minorities, including LGBT [people], are attuned to language that tends to marginalize or offend. Words have meaning beyond the denotative, and carelessness with those meanings can create problems for publishers and broadcasters.”
Professor Saldana teaches students to write cogently and pragmatically about diversity because “you cannot afford to offend your audience.” As he puts it, “Whatever your personal opinions are on homosexuality or minorities of any kind, you are ethically bound to treat people fairly and humanely. And failure to do so is not only an ethical lapse, it is likely to damage your career, as employers are not likely to keep someone around who makes a habit of insulting reading and viewing constituencies.”
Affirming this view is my own work in media ethics. My new book, Living Ethics Across Media Platforms (Oxford Univ. Press, 2008), has a chapter dedicated to diversity in the newsroom, boardroom and conference room.
Once again, however, a stand-alone chapter, much like a stand-alone course, is the minimal requirement. I discuss LGBT issues in several sections of the text.
In an analysis of Dan Quayle’s comments on “family values,” I write that the former vice president “seemed to imply that only traditional male-female/two-parent families were capable of transferring values to children. Opponents were right to press him on this point. They seemed to be asking Quayle: ‘What about children of single, divorced, deceased or gay/lesbian parents? What about children who are reared in extended families of other cultures in which grandparents, say, have a particularly influential role? What about social conditions like unemployment that contributes to the breakup of marriages? Do these children lack families or values or both?’”
I also use LGBT issues to illustrate ethical sourcing in news and conflicts of interest in public relations, again approaching diversity through the metaphor of cartography. Here are excerpts from both:
- Sourcing: The focus on facts ensures that any person of any sex, age group, social class, race or religion, in good or poor health, with or without disability or military or police record, will not feel overlooked, condescended to or otherwise excluded from coverage. Indeed, coverage that concerns but somehow excludes any of the above categories may be deemed untruthful, as in a report about same-sex marriage that contains no source from that demographic, whether or not people quoted in the particular story support same-sex marriage.
- Conflicts of interest: An example of a “personal vs. professional” conflict of interest might involve a public relations practitioner who is an active participant in promoting same-sex marriage while working on the political campaign of a conservative religious organization. Should he/she accept reassignment to another account if his/her supervisor suddenly requests that, questioning his/her professionalism? In such a situation, a person might choose one value over another. The practitioner can choose his/her commitment to the cause above the one to serve the client (or vice versa) and accept or fight reassignment to another account. Or the person can amend his/her values. For instance, the practitioner can accept reassignment to another account while also increasing his/her social activism. Another alternative would be to come with one or more new values to deal with the troubling situation. The practitioner can adopt an infrangible commitment to his/her cause and litigate against his/her employer because of the reassignment questioning his/her professionalism.
My book also discusses more subtle and complex situations involving diversity; for instance, whether a journalist should take an active role in Boy Scouts, which does not allow openly gay members or leaders.
Finally, I include an expert who is a national board member for NLGJA and an active member of both Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. April Hunt, now with the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, was working at the time of interview as social services reporter for the Orlando Sentinel in
Florida. Her expertise, however, was not that of an LGBT advocate but that of a journalist with a deep social conscience. Again, an excerpt from Living Ethics about coverage of Katrina:
During the aftermath of the hurricane, Hunt was assigned to cover social service agencies. “After several days of stories of refugees making their way as far as Orlando — some before the storm — I was inundated with calls from Good Samaritans wanting to open their homes to those in need. The Red Cross was cautioning against such well wishes, for the sake of liability.” Hunt explained this to one caller who said he would call her back. In the interim, he put up a Web site that linked those offering shelter with those in need of it. “I included his site in a story about those opening their homes,” Hunt said, who also referred people wishing to open their homes to this site. “Moreover, I matched one family — actually two couples, including a woman eight months pregnant — with the owner of the site as well as two people looking to take someone in. Obviously,” Hunt acknowledges, “this goes far beyond the bounds of my job.” Hunt believes that ethical questions could be raised about how appropriate it was for her to have spoken with the initial caller who had assembled a Web site, and then used him as a source after he did the work. “And I believe I crossed the line from journalist to citizen in trying to connect a family in need that e-mailed me to someone who could take them in. It had nothing to do with my job, per se. But given the amazing power of communication that journalists have, I felt I had an obligation to do what I could.” In retrospect, Hunt said, she has no regrets that she showed compassion by helping those in need. Given the scope of the disaster, she said, “I think most journalists would.”
It was important to include a section in my text about compassion, which is an undervalued ethical principle in the news, for if more of us embraced it, we would understand the human condition with greater insight.
I hope my small contribution reflects the commitment that we share at the Greenlee School, not only in the cartography of disaster but in the cartography of the conscience, whose inner voice informs us on any number of issues if only we have the courage to hear and to heed it.
