Truth and Opinion, and problems of U.S. TV Journalism
August 2004
How, what, and in what context did televisions in the United States covered the development from 9.11 to the War against Iraq, and to the birth of the new Iraqi regime? And how have their arguments affected the US public opinion?
In tradition, the US media journalism strictly separates facts and opinion, and reporters and anchorpersons are proud not to casually express their personal views. However, recent talk shows, which have become the mainstream of the country, lionize “chattering about the news”, much emphasizing this aspect than “reporting the news,” and the trend is creating big controversy.
The writer probes into problems concerning the truth and opinion as well as challenges facing TV journalism in the US to examine the relationship between media and public opinions. The report features talk shows aired on the Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, and Fox Broadcasting Company, a cable network, and is based on studies conducted by journalists, research institutes of journalism, and monitoring agencies of media, including the Project for Excellence in Journalism, or PEJ, The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, or PRC, and Fairness and Accuracy Reporting, or FAIR.
Chapter 1 features “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” on PBA, the US public broadcaster, as a specific example to review what the program has conveyed to the people by focusing on discussions over 9.11 and other Iraq-related news.
Chapter 2 elucidates problems of and challenges facing media and journalism of today by examining debates on the truth and opinion in American journalism based on the latest survey targeting journalists across the nation.
Finally, in Chapter 3, we analyze and examine how current issues in the US TV journalism affect audiences' viewing behavior and public opinions, centering on “confusion of facts and opinions,” using the latest results of public survey.