Global+Culrural+Awareness+Lesson+Plan



**Lesson Plan: Global Journalism Ethics**
 * DESCRIPTION**

Traditional journalism has changed significantly in recent years. There is no such thing as news that is only seen by a local audience in today’s Web 2.0 culture. Media outlets worldwide stream their broadcasts on the internet and archive their stories on websites like Youtube. Even the smallest network news affiliate’s broadcast now has an international reach due to the internet. The impact of this on broadcast journalism and television production is widespread, and one of the most significant areas to consider is journalistic ethics. Traditional ethical standards for broadcast journalism need to be reconsidered based on a global audience, and reporters need to consider that they are now acting as “global agents” in the media. This lesson is designed to ask broadcast journalism and news production students to examine the significance of global journalistic ethics and consider the impact that content available on the internet can have on the global community. The lesson combines research skills and analytical thinking, and asks students to apply what they have learned to their own work as journalists.


 * SELECTION PROCESS**

There is a significant challenge in incorporating a global perspective into teaching broadcast journalism and television production. Certainly there are avenues to pursue in teaching about the challenges of covering international news, but I sought to find a different topic that incorporated both global culture and emerging technologies, while still being essentially related to one of the core subjects I teach. One article in particular from Stephen J.A. Ward, linked below in the "References" section, sparked the specific concept for this instruction. Journalistic ethics is already a significant portion of the instruction when I teach "Intro to TV News Production." This lesson allows to build on that concept by getting students to realize that news reporters can no longer think in terms of only local news, and must now act as "global agents" regardless of the story subject. You can click the link below to access the lesson plan as a Microsoft Word document, and more closely examine the concepts and activities centered around global journalistic ethics.




 * REFLECTION**

Even though I have spent over a decade working in broadcast television, and a significant portion of that time in TV news, I still found the concepts in this lesson plan shocking. The idea of all areas of broadcast news having potential global impact because of the internet is a significant paradigm shift in the world of journalism, yet I can not deny the complete truth of the concept. Internet applications and web 2.0 technologies can make every piece of video from every news organization in the world available to anyone else with an internet connection. It is perhaps an uncomfortable truth for those mired in the traditional concepts of journalistic ethics, but true nonetheless. Ethnocentric bias might not have been a concern to a reporter at a Midwest network affiliate a few years ago, but news organizations need to start embracing the idea of global journalistic ethics and educating reporters and anchors to act as global agents. As an educator I'm fortunate to be able to impart some of these ideals to students learning the basics of journalism and TV news production. However I also know the world of broadcast television intimately, and I know it will difficult for current reporters, anchors, and news directors to embrace these new ideals. The change is necessary, but the American news media may be left behind the rest of the world without a significant paradigm shift in the way they think about journalistic ethics.


 * REFERENCES**

Ward, Stephen J.A. (2009). //Global Journalism Ethics//. Retrieved from [] Sardar, Jam. (Reporter) (2007). //Video Game Addiction, as featured on Art Fennell Reports//. Video Retrieved from [] BBC News ( 10 August 2005 ). //S Korean Dies After Games Session//. Retrieved from [] Photo Credit: Art Fennell Reports, The Comcast Network. Candid photo. (2007)