Group Ten Assignment

DEPARTMENT OFMASS COMMUNICATION

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA

COURSE CODE: MCOM 414

COURSE TITLE: ONLINE JOURNALISM

  

GROUP TEN ASSIGNMENT:

 Can Online Journalism Be A Professional Calling? Either Way, Justify Your Stance Using Rigorous Literature Analysis And Situate Your Findings Within Both Teleological And Deontological Paradigms

LECTURER: MALLAM MUHAMMAD HASHIM SULEIMAN

AUGUST, 2017

GROUP TEN MEMBERS

S/N	NAMES	REG NUMBERS
1	ADEYEMI SEGUN ALAMEEN	U13MM1136
2	JOSEPH CHINEME GOD-GIFT	U13MM1059
3	EZE FAVOUR NKECHINYERE	U13MM1213
4	MUSA SANDRA MUSA	U13MM1185
5	AHMAD MARYAM TIJJANI	U13MM1170
6	HAUWA YUSUF JUMARE	U13MM1058
7	TANKO FAISAL YAKUBU	U13MM1160
8	SILAS JONATHAN SILAS	U13MM1133
9	ABDULAZEEZ HAMEEDAH OYIZAH	U13MM1082
10	HASSAN HASSAN OLAREWAJU	U13MM1172
11	USMAN AHMAD	U13MM1191
12	DAVID NKONUNGUGA FUNGO	U13MM1060
13	MOHAMMED USMAN	U13MM1216
14	YAHAYA ISAH MUSA	U13MM1062
15	ABDULRAHMAN GALADIMA D.	U13MM1144
16	BELLO A. SALIHU	U13MM1166
17	IBRAHIM SANI	U13MM1010
18	GEORGE OLUREMI VICTORIA	U13MM1061
19	MOHAMMED NAFISAT	U13MM1009

MINUTES OF OUR MEETINGS

The firs meeting held on the 20^th of June, 2017 with twelve (12) group members in attendance and lasted for one hour forty-five minutes. The first meeting discussed on how the whole assignment would go about including the stance we should take as a group. The meeting led to arguments, we then decided that every member of the group should go and source for relevant literatures on the topic to get ourselves acquainted to it. The group elected its leadership and a WhatsApp group chat was created for further interaction among group members.

The second meeting held immediately after the mid semester break which was on 4^th July, 2017. Although, discussion had been going online via the WhatsApp platform, the meeting established the previous discussions and ideas shared online. Almost all group members discussed on the literature they had consulted and the group took its stance on the assignment topic. Every group member was asked to write generally on the stance the group took. The meeting lasted for an hour with eleven (11) group members in attendance.

Subsequently, the group held another meeting on Saturday 8^th July, 2017. Members of the group were subdivided into four categories with each writing about the category he/she fell under. The group leadership decided that each sub-group should submit its written contribution in one week via Google Docs created by the group for easy collaboration and online participation.

The group met again on 14^th of July, 2017 with each sub-group presenting its hardcopy contribution to the entire group members. We deliberated about the contributions presented and the group select four persons to compile the work.  Four persons were authorized to have access to the Google docs and happened to be leaders of their sub-groups and were also the compilers who were chosen by the group members. The meeting lasted for one hour, thirty minutes with ten (10) group members in attendance.

Compilers met several times both offline and online to compile the work.

On the 18^th of July, 2017, a meeting was held with fifteen (15) group members in attendance. The compilers presented the final outlook of the work to the group members. Group members were asked by the group leadership to contribute financially for the printing and spiral binding of the assignment.

INTRODUCTION

For a very long time, several scholars, professionals and other practitioners have been arguing as to whether online journalism is a profession, a craft, an occupation or a vocation.

          From time immemorial, the profession of journalism has not been given much respect like law, medicine, and engineering among others. People for this reason, tend to view online journalism and citizen/participatory journalism interchangeably. It is important to note however that, while the former entails credible and factual collation, processing and dissemination of information via the internet, while the latter focuses only on untrained and unprofessional individuals who participate in gathering and disseminating of information online.

          Hence, this is where the argument lies on whether online journalism should be called a profession or not. In this light, this paper discusses these various arguments, situating them within both teleological and deontological paradigms of ethical considerations and finally took a stand of viewing online journalism as a profession based on the available literature. 

The transition to online journalism and the fast growth of online readership poses its share of potential problems. For some scholars, they see these journalists who carry out their duties online as unprofessional while some simply say it is a craft or a vocation. This leads to the debate on whether online journalism is a profession or not.

Kamath (2009) sees a professional as any man who has had training in his particular field. Kamath further states that journalists in India acquire professional respectability by the very fact of being on a journal’s payroll, he must be competent. Also, a professional journalist is actively employed on a full-time basis by any media organization. While Akinfeleye (2011) sees profession from its historical foundation simply entails the act of professing.

Similarly, Socratic Method to professions as cited in Dueze (2003) see a profession as a number of individuals in the same occupation voluntarily organized to earn a living by openly serving a moral ideal in a morally permissible way, beyond what law, market, morality, and public opinion would otherwise require.

To Davis (2010), a profession is simply a function of special knowledge used in a certain way.

          The arrival of online journalism has greatly challenged the primacy of news, the relationship between reporters and readers and the current skills package of the journalists. News and features have given ways to ‘useful contents’. Journalists are now information architects (Ward, 2003). Therefore, online journalism in the online realm is a broad church, encompassing a wide spectrum from news to information, from investigative journalism to re-purposing contents, from multimedia interactions to bullet point lists, from intricate sites to the simple e-zine.

Dueze (2003) says online journalism is produced more or less exclusively for the World Wide Web (as the graphic interface of the internet). He went on to say that online  journalist has to make decisions as to which media format(s) best convey a certain story (multimediality), consider options for public to respond, interact or even customize certain stories (interactivity) and think about ways to connect the story to other stories, archives, resources and so forth through hyperlinks (hypertextuality).

Similarly, Ward (2003) see online journalism as a generic term often used loosely to describe digital information access, retrieval or dissemination. Online journalism often referred to as digital journalism is a contemporary form of journalism where editorial contents are distributed via the net as opposed to publishing via print or broadcast.

To say, there has been inconsistency in the lingering debate over the professionalism or otherwise of online journalism is an understatement. Interestingly, most of these arguments have been based on the ethical considerations of its practice.

Going by the earlier conceptualization of professionalism, many scholars choose to view online journalism as well as its practice from two basic arguments: those who believe that online journalism should not be seen as a profession and those who believe it should be seen as such.

Mostly, those who choose to view online journalism not as a profession usually base their arguments on its inability to have most of the attributes of professionalism. According to Davis (2010), online journalism could be seen not as a profession because online journalists are not licensed, it lacks a body of theoretical knowledge, it no required or written curriculum through which all journalists must pass, because professional online journalists could not stop non-journalists (eg. bloggers) from reporting news and that most online journalists are not members of any professional organization among others.

To scholars like Stefanie Lindhardt, the corruption in journalism practice is alone to disqualify its professionalism.

Therefore, these proponents believe that these reasons collectively put together to make online journalists neither to have high status in the society nor high income. In short, they conclude that these reasons are sufficient enough to view online journalism neither as a profession, not even quasi-profession, proto-profession or anything close (Davis, 2010).

Furthermore, due to the fact that there is a dearth of laws on internet regulation in Nigeria, and indeed the world over these people still doubt the professionalism of online journalism. Besides, the global nature of the internet makes it very cumbersome and almost impossible to regulate its use and this probably explains why a lot of individuals publish whatever they deem fit with reckless abandon on the internet as it is regarded as a regulation-free zone which greatly ask the question whether online journalism is a profession as this counters a profession’s criterion of regulation.

Still on the matter, Professor John C. Merill cited in Akinfeleye (2011) once argued that a donkey may have many of the attributes and characteristics of a horse; if it approaches a horse, it looks like a horse, it behaves like a horse but we cannot say it is a horse or that a horse is a donkey.

Media academic scholar Fredson (2001) opines that online journalism is not a profession, it is an activity. To him, it should not and cannot be placed in the same level or category with law or medicine. It is an activity which at its simplest is an expression of citizenship, and a manifestation of democracy. He further suggests that online journalism is an activity which when pursued with active strength and executed with skills in a disruptive yet creative mischief should represent the opposite of ‘professionalism’.

          Meanwhile, the other school of thought who chooses to view online journalism as a profession simply argued that virtually all the above arguments are not applicable to online journalism or even journalism generally. According to this school of thought, the occupation in question (online journalism) must organize to work in a morally permissible way. When there is no morally permissible way to carry on the occupation, there can be no profession. Luckily, according to them, definition of morality is relational and normative. Hence, there is no any basis of disputing online journalism as a profession.

Also, in the field of ethical studies, right from deontological perspective that view or judge every action of any profession ethically from the standpoint of its consequences with all its various theoretical differences, up to teleological theories and perspective that set ideals on what should or should not be done ethically, subscribers to this school of thought could still find a single tenet that stops online journalism from being called a profession.

          They equally aver that in the parlance of journalism specifically, from the classical Lasswellian perspective, Bardic journalism functions, up to critical-theoretic functions, there is nothing wrong in calling online journalism a profession.

Deontologists believe that morality is a matter of duty; we have moral duties not to do wrong things. Whether something is right or wrong, it doesn’t depend on its consequences, rather, an action is right or wrong it itself. They claim that we should all be more concerned with complying with our duties, not attempting to bring the most good.  In fact, all deontologists argue that there are times we should not maximize the good, because doing so will violate a duty (a moral duty).

The standards of the deontological perspective clearly depicts that the means should justify the end, hence, with such a perspective it is important to clearly look at the standards, morals, ethics and the dos and don’ts of journalism before judging whether online journalism is a profession or not.

          Journalism everywhere supports objectivity, neutrality, balancing and truthfulness (Johnson, 2011). This implies that the standards on which journalism stands are quite clear and direct. Asemah (2011) argued that the profession of journalism can only be considered a profession when its ethics are well uphold.

          In the same vein, Nwosu (2003) opined that the profession of journalism must be the one in which the moral ethical standards of journalism are maintained. From the afore mentioned, it is clear that journalism in the online environment is an area of practice that well posed its dos and don’ts, hence with such standards tied to the practice of professional online journalism, the question still remains rhetoric.

          Teleologists on the other hand, are predicated on the notion that the ethically correct decision is the one that produces the best consequences. Consequentialists, unlike the deontologists, do not ask whether a particular practice or profession is always right or wrong but whether it will lead to positive results.  There are two variations of the teleological perspective: at one extreme are the egoists and at the other extreme are the utilitarians. The egoists argue that moral agents should seek to maximize good consequences for themselves. While the utilitarians believe that we should attempt to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

          Therefore, a socially beneficial consequence is sometimes used to justify an immoral means. Online journalists who use illegally recorded conversations from news sources, on the ground of the “public’s right to know” are attempting to justify what they believe to be good consequences, even though the means of accomplishing the ends are rather questionable (Day, 2006).  Recently for instance, Sahara Reporters (an online news site), exposed a serving senator whowas involved in a sex scandal. Ethically, Sahara Reporters will base their justification on the utilitarian teleological perspective of attempting to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of people. In other words, they looked at it not from egoist or personal good, rather, from the benefits of the larger society (July, 2017).

To further buttress the above point, Villegas (2015) stated that every profession requires possible ethical standards that can clearly define that profession. For online journalism, it has accuracy, plagiarism, obscenity, reporting on children and minors, decency and many more.

These ethics happened to fall under the element which gives assertion that a particular occupation is a field of profession based on this fact; we can boldly state that ‘online journalism is a field of profession’. Jackson (2010) further asserts that online journalism is a field of profession and whoever wants to practice it professionally needs to be trained for same.

Looking at the different paradigms, among which sociological approach tends to be empirical, its statement of what a profession is, a definition of sorts, does not purport to give necessary or sufficient conditions for some occupations to be  professions but merely to state what is true “most profession”, the most important, the most developed professions, or the like (Davis, 2010).

          Similarly, the stand of the political tradition, often associated with Max Weber, interpret profession as primarily a legal condition, a matter of reasonably effective laws that set standards for advanced education, require a license to practice, and the imposed discipline open practitioners through a formal government structures (Davis, 2010).

However, the internet is the mavericks of the online world. Ethical standards are designed to delineate these journalists’ responsibilities and provide a clear code of conduct that will ensure the integrity of the news. Perhaps, millions of unprofessional online journalists (amateur writers) produce weblogs that are easy to use. For instance, a Korean website called “OHMYNEWS” employs more than 26,000 citizen reporters’ who submit articles on everything from birthday celebrations to political events. The publication is credited with helping to elect South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun, who granted his first post-election interview to the site. In this case, this is not professional online journalism rather citizen’s participation on the media (Vishwendra, 2016). This is where the difference lies in citizen journalism and online journalism. Although, UNESCO’s most recent definition of a journalist is anyone with access to information, but the fact still remains unchanged; whether you own a blog or post news stories online, does not make you a professional online journalist.

          Conversely, critics are of the opinion that online journalism respects neither copyright nor the role of the mass media in presenting society with credible news. These so called journalists have moved to other media.

However, on the other flip, weblogs maintained for respected news organizations will certainly qualify as journalism if they uphold the same standards as the entire organization. While others argue that independent sites maintained by journalists automatically constitute journalism simply because their authors are journalists. A blog written by a journalist does not necessarily qualify as journalism, for the same reason, a novel written by a journalist does not necessarily qualify as journalism: it is the practice that defines the practitioner, not the way around. Take the case of Jayson Blair, fired from theNew York Times’ for fabricating stories illustrates that whatever the journalist’s reputation or affiliation, online journalism and other forms of journalism characterized by strict adherence to accepted principles and standards, not by title or professional standard.

It is imperative to note that online journalism plays a significant role in our today society. Online journalism as a profession is an important element for economic progress in a society by identifying, assessing and exploiting business opportunities; creating new firms and/or renewing existing ones by making them more dynamic and by driving the economy forward through innovation, competence, job creation and by generally improving the well-being of the society.

Online journalists channel their articles or writings with the focus of earning a living and in turn this field becomes their means of livelihood.

CONCLUSION

This paper looked at the various arguments that center around the professionalism or otherwise of online journalism. It viewed the different ethical considerations from both deontological and teleological paradigms. For a profession to be called a professional profession, there are standards the profession must uphold. The internet has contributed to the further professionalization of journalism in general, as the ability and willingness to publicly reflect on itself and be self-critical is generally seen as one of the defining characteristics of a profession.

          Because people are wrong while practicing it does not take the dignity of that profession. From our discussion, we can conclude that online journalism is a profession. Devoid of all odds, online journalism is a profession and should be viewed as such.

REFERENCES

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Davis, M. (2010). Why journalism is a profession. Research Gate. Retrieved 15th July, 2017 from https://www.research gate.net/publication/287842027

Day, L. A. (2006). Ethics in Media Communication (5th ed.). Belmont: Thomas Wadsworth.

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Sahara Reporters (2017). "Former governor of Yobe State Senator Bukar Ibrahim in a sex scandal with two women. Accesses July, 20th, 2017 from http://saharareporters.com/2017/07/02/video-former-governor-yobe-state-senator-bukar-ibrahim-sex-scandal-involving-two-women

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