Journalism in North America

Journalism in North America
In the past, journalism used to be of sensational nature, however, that eventually developed into more literate and responsible organs.
Actually, the news papers gradually continued to be becoming larger and larger, whereby, advertising became more lucrative as a source of income. As the publishers and editors knew that the readers wanted current news based on facts, there came editorial independence giving new stature to the news function as well.
In modern time, newspapers are ready to be printed in one city and are simultaneously generated in other cities.
The Canadian example of mainstream media includes the Globe and Mail and the National Post (Toronto) among others; they are locally published/printed and they transmit all information verbatim by verbatim and line by line to printing plants in major cities across the country. Similarly, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal among others are active in the U.S.
The global newspapers of today include the “print editions” as well as the “online editions,” so do the North American daily newspapers, pod casts, interaction, multi-media, video, partnerships with broadcast, news databases, and email newsletter etc.
Like other countries, newspaper law covering matters of libel, contempt of court and copyright, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms were passed as part of the Canadian constitution in 1981; all this guarantees "freedom of thought, belief, opinion, expression, and freedom of media to all people.
Nevertheless, Canadian newspapers continue to face challenges and competition in their role as bearers of news in the information technology age. Despite the challenges, newspapers excellently keep up with performing the job of giving the people what they want to know with clarity.
In other words, there is a commitment of Canada's newspapers to operate in the public interest. A newspaper is a vital source of information and is a private business enterprise that serves the community with responsibility.
Freedom of Press is essential to the democratic society; it’s based on Canadian's right to freedom of expression available with guarantee through the Canadian “Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” It includes the right to collect and publicize information. It’s the “free press” that enables readers to use their Charter rights to receive information and make informed judgments on the current issues.
It means that the newspaper's primary obligation is trustworthiness towards the public good.
Gathering the truthful information for making part of news is expensive but is the only available option to utilize the credible sources with precision and accuracy.
Care must be taken when there is conflict of interest; it can’t be left undeclared.
Furthermore, the newspaper is obliged to protect its independence from the private and public sectors.
Ethically and legally speaking, only accurate and unbiased reporting is acceptable: Obviously, the newspaper keeps faith with readers by presenting only correct and up to date information.
All errors/mistakes should be reported and highlighted to maintain the trust of readers/audience.
The community newspapers are said to be of sound practice if there is clear distinction in news reporting along with expressions of opinion, and materials produced for and by the advertisers. Therefore, the altered images, if any, must be reported because people have right to know.
Other challenges: Community religious leaders including various associations tend to keep the newspaper editors and owners under pressure; they are interested in the coverage the way they want regardless of the consequences. In fact, controversial ads make the news paper editors/owners bend backward while looking for a way out. And no one seems to realize the free newspaper only can continue in business through putting ads in the paper in order to generate revenue.
No matter what, newspaper remains responsible to its readers, its shareholders, its employees and its advertisers, of course.
True, a newspaper plays a variety of roles for the civil society but building community opinion is the most important one. Despite the odds, editors strive hard to paint a representative picture of its diverse communities in order to encourage the expression of disparate views. At the same time, it has to be accessible and accountable to the readers of all kinds and levels.
Under all eventualities, respect is of paramount importance: The newspaper should strive to treat the people it covers with courtesy and fairness.
Modern Journalism faces a tough re-adjustment phase in response to the ongoing social, cultural and technological changes. Like it or not, journalists are beginning to leverage on social media to gather stories and are using news aggregators and subscribing to RSS feeds and blogs to assist them in their work. This means the challenged media continue to undergo drastic adjustment scenarios.
Furthermore, the publishers of weekly or bi weekly news papers. are people of courage, integrity, and tenacity as they stand against authority, community evils, national evils, international issues, and they take strong positions too in some cases.
Meanwhile, news managers and editors are concerned for Face book and Twitter as these sources are used for newsgathering especially during breaking news stories. But, there is some hesitancy in using social media ground to distribute content for fear of losing control of the information. No one can deny the possibility that social media seems to be changing things; it will surely bring about transparency, accountability and a broader range of voices and viewpoints.
The current tide of change is likely to bring about pressures on the need for more skills, and ability to respond quickly. This translates into compromised quality to ascertain the authenticity and verification of facts which can invite a serious handicap jeopardizing the flow of truthful information.
Surely, a journalist will soon have to have a good sense of whereabouts of the potential audience. They will have to figure out how to reach that audience whether they are online, in print, broadcast, mobile or social media platforms.
Hopefully, social media will not be allowed to damage the value of journalistic credibility. At the end of the day, we see journalism is still alive however merely adapting.


sources:
http://comjig.blogspot.ca/.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_school
http://www.newspaperscanada.ca/Connecting-to-Canadians-with-Community-Newspapers

Muslims and Their Media in Canada

Among other things, it’s usually noticed that some groups do have a dirty habit of conveniently using the main stream media to promote a negative image of ‘Islam and its followers’ despite the freedom of religion in Canada.

According to Malcolm X, “The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

In fact, the media does have the capability to generate public opinion as intended to satisfy the vested interests. But, the problem is the ‘unfriendly attitude’ of the main stream media towards the Muslim community.

Also, the competition among the media businesses is in a desperate need of giving the truthful information by being objective and balanced in reporting.

On the other hand, biased journalism stemming from the main stream (non Muslim) media is too injurious to maintain the required balance, as it does nothing but poison the raw minds of the non Muslims in general against the Muslims in particular.

Unfortunately in some cases, the main stream media appears to be biased towards Muslim when giving misjudgment without in-depth knowledge about the practicality of Islam.

Therefore, an inadequate presence of Muslim media adds to fuel further desperation for the Muslims; the presence of mischievous elements in the media threatens the formation of logical public opinion.

Some unqualified media persons are more dangerous when attempting to represent the Muslims because of their ignorance, discriminatory attitude or their little knowledge about Islam. They are accused of misinterpreting Islamic teachings for their failure to understand the proper context.

Beyond doubt, the media through radio, television, newspaper or internet has the capacity of connecting and bridging communities.

Specifically, the internet is a gold mine of accessibility enriching the minds of the users positively or negatively – all depending on what you really look for through face book, twitter, blogs, emails, and the list goes on and on.

Several communities of different ethnicities have their own media to safeguard their interests.

Similarly, the Muslims are looking for a decent way out of the ongoing frustrating situation. They are becoming active more than ever and getting closer to helping the main stream media.

Fortunately, the Muslim media of today has genuine encouragement to become more and more assertive with an improved degree of confidence. In other words they are more involved and getting closer to be competitive even in the commercially focused media market.

Better late than never, the Muslims are comfortable to troubleshoot the negative status quo through their own electronic and print media. They are catching up gradually and hopefully would be able to free the Canadian audience of Islamophobia. Misreporting, exaggerating or ignoring coverage for the Muslims did lead to the formation of such independent voice of Muslim community through their own print and electronic media throughout Canada.

As the Muslims are legally entitled to proceed in an organised manner to protect their faith, their media too is equally entitled to publish literature to give the true picture to the general public regardless of ethnicity, color or creed. Thank God, a good bi-weekly namely “The Miracle News” is published in Surrey, British Columbia, it serves the local population through its unbiased reporting which is available to consumers and the business community.

The fact is media is always bound by a code of ethics to continue as competitive and credible under all circumstances. A successful journalism has to be conscientious, because presenting the distorted facts is unethical and unlawful.

In addition to the print media, a daily Muslim presence in the broadcast media and the internet would correct the anti Islam feelings among the non Muslim Canadians. Once Muslim media is in full force on daily basis, the Muslim youth would definitely be encouraged to benefit, preserve and strengthen their Islamic identity.

The good news is several media people of integrity understand the essence of journalism. The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) publishes “Islamic Horizons,” Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) publishes “The Message” and there are many other publications by different mosques. Also, there are Monthly, Bi Weekly or Weekly News Papers and several other publications by Muslim Students' Associations.

Since, the mainstream media has been unable to address the issues of different communities equally; therefore, a daily basis English Medium Muslim TV, radio including all other publications would only enable all communities to understand what Islam really is!

The Muslim community of Canada is fully entitled to enjoy equality and justice when it comes to their unattended or mishandled issues. And, the Canadian non-Muslim community deserves to find out more to re-establish their view point of the great religion of Islam.

We can’t tolerate a biased media which is also focused only on commercialization, as it becomes irritating for intelligent audience.

Moreover, utilizing Muslim friendly apparatus, pro-Islamic media advocates may go ahead with repairing the tarnished image of Islam. Regularly airing of the constructive interfaith dialogues can be further fruitful.

At least, the Muslim media should go beyond commercialism and give a deep thought about nation building as well.

However, the youths of both genders must participate sincerely to promote Muslim businesses through advertising. They should come forward as volunteers to address social issues through writing articles in the local Muslim News papers.

Surely, they would be contributing for the noble cause through their efforts, so that the Muslim population is facilitated to merge with other Canadian communities with ease and pride.

The Muslims deserve to be accepted as politicians, social workers, economists, educationists but at par with all other Canadians. The Muslim business people must actively engage in using the Muslim newspapers for promoting their business through their commercial Ads.

Truth is Muslim media with integrity and full Islamic knowledge is better positioned to publish/broadcast for the benefit of all Canadians. Nevertheless, presenting true image of Islam as a religion of peace, tolerance and justice remains a challenge for Muslim media indeed.

The bottom line is Muslim media should continue to focus on achieving the goal of nation building based on balanced truthful journalism on merit.