Stoicism and Courage as Journalistic Values: What Early Journalism Textbooks Taught About “Newsroom Ethos”
Volume 36, No. 2, 2019
By Raymond McCaffrey, University of Arkansas
Discussion of a “newsroom ethos” that may direct journalists into harm’s way and also impede their ability to receive help in coping with traumatic work experiences has become more common as researchers have focused on the mental health risks faced by reporters and photographers. Journalism’s professional codes of conduct would not appear to directly translate into an ethos that may encourage risky, almost macho behavior. However, sociologists say professional codes can be at the root of a powerful mythology that is only loosely based on the rules and norms that are established and preserved by organizations.
An examination of journalism textbooks covering a period from 1913-1978 revealed that they contributed to the crafting of an ethos that encouraged detachment and discouraged the displaying of emotions in what was depicted as a macho profession. For example:
- In his 1913 textbook, News Reporting and Editing, Willard Grosvenor Bleyer, associate professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin, advanced the image of the detached reporter quelling emotions when covering traumatic events, advising journalists: “Keep cool, no matter how great the disaster.” In the 1929 textbook, News Reporting: A Practice Book, Carl N. Warren, a Chicago Tribune reporter and lecturer at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, gave reporters covering such stories the following advice: “Find the facts, and keep your pulse steady.”
- In the 1936 textbook, Reporting News, William E. Hall, a member of the editorial staff of the Toledo Blade in Ohio, as well as instructor in journalism at the University of Toledo, wrote that journalists “see so many tragedies and disasters that they do become hardened to them. A certain degree of callousness must be acquired in order for the reporter to work effectively. If a news writer should be upset by every sight of blood or burst into tears as the scene of every fatal accident, his value as a news gatherer would not be great. A calm, cool, and collected attitude is the best for the reporter.”
- In Interpretative Reporting, published in 1938, Curtis Daniel MacDougall, a Northwestern journalism professor, wrote that a “reporter, to be successful, cannot be frightened by anyone,” and he listed “courage” as among the “qualities frequently mentioned as necessary for successful newspaper reporting.” Ultimately, textbook writers helped develop a true mythology around journalists, one replete with heroes and legends. Aspiring journalists were taught that courage was an important attribute because taking risks was part of the job and that some of the most influential journalists had died heroic deaths in their pursuit of the truth.
- In his 1935 textbook, The Complete Journalist: A Study of the Principles and Practice of Newspaper-Making, Frederick John Mansfield wrote: “A high place in the ranks of journalism is held by the war correspondent, whose work is exceptional, distinguished, and often perilous.
Questions for Class Discussion:
- What are the values or qualities commonly associated with the term “newsroom ethos,” and how may they alternately help or hinder the ability of journalists to do their jobs?
- What are the roots of journalism’s professional codes of conduct? When were they first developed and why?
- What do we mean when talk about the “professionalization movement” in journalism? When did this movement occur and what role did journalism educators play in this initiative?
- What were some of the values that early journalism textbook writers sought to teach aspiring journalists?
- Why was the notion of “objectivity” deemed so important by textbook writers? How did these writers define that term and how may that definition come to be misconstrued?
- What mental health risks do journalists face? What particular kinds of assignments can make them susceptible to these risks? Based upon what you have learned about “newsroom ethos,” how may it stand in the way of journalists getting mental health treatment?
Exercise 1
Early journalism textbooks explicitly taught values espoused in professional codes of conduct that first emerged in the early twentieth century. Working individually or in teams, students should explore the evolution of these codes, which first addressed print journalism, then were directed at emerging journalistic mediums such as radio, photography, television, and – more recently – online news. Many of these codes can be reviewed using the following links: the American Society of Newspaper Editors Statement of Principles (https://www.asne.org/asne-principles); the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics (https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp); the Radio Television Digital News Association Code of Ethics (https://rtdna.org/content/rtdna_code_of_ethics); the National Press Photographers Association Code of Ethics (https://nppa.org/code-ethics); and the Online News Association Social Newsgathering Ethics Code (https://journalists.org/tools/social-newsgathering/).
- What values are common to these codes? Which are specific to a particular journalistic medium, such as broadcast, print, photography, or online news? Do these values depict an ethos that is the same or different for practitioners in these journalistic subspecialties?
- The “Build Your Own Ethics Code Project,” first launched by the Online News Association, asked participants to “customize” journalistic principles to fit the changing media world they lived in. What principles would you include if you designed an ethics code?
- Longstanding journalism ethics codes have evolved through the years. The Society of Professional Journalists has documented on its website the different versions of its Code of Ethics, which debuted in 1926, then underwent formal revisions in 1973, 1996, and 2014. How has the code changed during those revisions and how have they redefined the notion of “newsroom ethos,” if at all?
Exercise 2
The writers of early journalism textbooks conveyed journalistic values by helping to develop a hero mythology surrounding journalists who risked their lives to get important stories. For this exercise, students should select one of the more than 2,300 fallen photographers and reporters honored on the Journalists Memorial, now housed at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., and profiled in an online database (http://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/journalists-memorial).
Students should then review a news article or articles chronicling the life and death of the fallen journalist that they selected. If students don’t have access to more specialized historical databases that may be needed to research journalists who perished as far back as the early nineteenth century, general internet search engines should still be able to uncover articles about some of the more recent journalists to die in the line of duty.
- What qualities did these news articles highlight about these fallen journalists?
- How do these qualities relate to the principles espoused in journalism ethics codes?
- Do these stories reflect – either explicitly or implicitly – a certain ethos that other journalists may feel compelled to follow? If so, what behavior or practices do these articles seem to encourage?
Exercise 3
Writers of early journalism textbooks helped craft an ethos that encouraged detachment and discouraged emotional expression in a macho profession where journalists were rewarded for displaying courage and taking risks. Now, after a growing body of research has determined that journalists who cover war and other traumatic events are at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder and other related psychological problems, journalists have remained resistant to seeking treatment from mental health professionals.
For this exercise, students should visit the website operated by the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, which is affiliated with the Columbia Journalism School, and read: “Covering Trauma: Impact on Journalists” (https://dartcenter.org/content/covering-trauma-impact-on-journalists).
- Is the ethos advanced in early journalism textbooks still practical in the face of what is now known about the mental health risks facing journalists?
- Do you think that journalists could remain objective in their reporting and still stay in touch with their emotions while covering traumatic events?
- How do you think modern journalism textbook writers could still teach journalistic standards such as objectivity yet still prepare aspiring journalists for the physical and psychological risks they may face in the field?
Additional Selected Secondary Sources
Depalma, Anthony. “Suffering in Silence.” Columbia Journalism Review 47, no. 6 (2009): 46-49.
Elmore, Cindy. “Recollections in Hindsight from Women Who Left: The Gendered Newsroom Culture.” Women & Language 30, no. 2 (2007): 18-27.
Fedler, Fred. “Insiders’ Stories: Coping with Newsroom Stress: An Historical Perspective.” American Journalism, 21, no. 3 (2004): 77-106.
Feinstein, Anthony. Journalists Under Fire: The Psychological Hazards of Covering War. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Knowlton, Steven R. and Freeman, Karen L., eds. Fair & Balanced: A History of Journalistic Objectivity. Northport, AL: Vision Press, 2005.
Himmelstein, Hal, and E. Perry Faithorn. “Eyewitness to Disaster: How Journalists Cope with the Psychological Stress Inherent in Reporting Traumatic Events.” Journalism Studies 3, no. 4 (2002): 537-55.
Mirando, Joseph A. “Embracing Objectivity Early On: Journalism Textbooks of the 1800s.” Journal of Mass Media Ethics 16, no. 1 (2001): 23-32.
Simpson, Roger. “Journalism and Trauma: A Long Overdue Conjunction.” Nieman Reports 58, no. 2 (2004): 77-79.