King James Bible facts

Because of the Counter Reformation, the protestant movement, which was introduced during the 1500s there were numerous protestants pushing for a non-Church of England endorsed Bible. King James I himself was not a sympathizer of protestant ideals. The Protestants, specifically the Puritans, were hoping for a suitable revision of the Bishops bible. What they got was a completely new translation.

What we often do not realize is the Bible's influence on language. Valued works of American literature such as the Grapes of Wrath and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address contain language which stemmed from the King James Version (KJV)of the Bible. The KJV also had a strong influence on music, specifically Handel's famous Messiah.

No other book has had so wide and deep an influence on the world, especially American culture, than the form and substance of the Bible.

What are the advantages and risks of journalists actively working to "market" their content to audiences?

On the one hand, working to target a specific their context to a specific market would allow those who actually care to read your article. On the other hand, people may feel manipulated depanding on how you go about targeting people.

Although tailoring news stories to a wide yet specific audiences may seem efficient and beneficial, even when done well it cannot save newspaper and TV from the ever impressive internet.

Better understanding the lifestyles and in-and-outs of one's preferred audience is perhaps the best way for editors to understand how to effectively design a news package that comprehensively and proportionally fits the needs of their community (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 219).

Instead of worrying to much about "what people want" (which is a very advertising/marketing way of thinking), journalists (as objective watch dogs) need to concern themselves more with the question of "what are people doing?" After all, the job of a journalist is to reports the news, as in what new worthwhile things are happening. More specifically, understand the newspaper's audience reach--this audience for all intensive purposes is the community for which journalists are writing to. Find out what the community is up to, concerned with, etc., write on that, and you will be very successful while managing not to compromise completely your title as a journalist.

Kovach, Bill, and Tom Rosenstiel. "Journalism as a Public Forum." The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect. New York: Crown, 2001. Print.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing journalism today and what solutions do you propose?

Probably the shrinking size of of the newsroom as a whole is the biggest threat to young aspiring journalists. The payroll cutbacks have made the profession more competitive during this time period of transition between traditional news mediums and new mediums, such as internet. Because older journalists are tending to retire later (probably due to the relatively poor average income of journalists), it is harder for young journalists to get and maintain permanent a position in the newsroom.

I think the best solution for perspective journalists is to:

1. Understand how to blog, navigate around social networking sites, and really become an expert at new media--that is where the future of newspaper is headed.

2. Write very well and very succinctly under presssure

3. Specialize in a certain type of journalism whether it be news anchor, investigative reporter or columnist jobs that interest you, pick one you are good at and go for it. Stand out in whatever area of journalism that best suits you so you can compete effectively with other qualified applicants.

If you do not love journalism, it is honestly probably not worth pursuing, especially at this moment in time; journalists work long hours with constant pressure to meet deadlines and report accurately. Journalists do not make a lot of money generally, and are currently experiencing cut backs in staffing.

If these warnings do not phase you and you really do love journalism, you just might have the drive it takes to make the final cut within the field of journalism in this day and age. Now however, that drive must be channeled into a relevant area of expertise to go very far.

The Role of Journalism in Democracy

Journalism has often been referred to as the fourth branch of government. This common conception of the role of journalism in democracy has shaped the way in which we see journalism as a whole and, simultaneously, it's place in politics.

However, journalism's role in democracy goes much deeper than the obvious relationship of politics and journalism. Journalism has largely helped accommodate and perpetuate our obsession with celebrities; similarly, the shift towards broadcast, social media and blog sources for news has made prominent journalists into celebrities themselves. For instance, most every semi-informed American adult knows of Anderson Cooper from CNN. Satirical news anchors are becoming widely popular today as well, aka Jon Stewart, Steve Colbert and the satirical news commentators on SNL.

As a democracy, we expect journalism to provide public forums for public criticism (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 166). America was founded on freedom of speech thus, the founding fathers included freedom of speech in the very first amendment of the United States Constitution. The problem with freedom of speech is it means false statements can be (and are) perpetuated as demonstrated in the book example with innocent bystander Cody Shearer said involvement in muting Bill Clinton scandals. This is why public forum be be available. In addition, news journalists should also check sources and take responsibility for what they say or print.

Kovach, Bill, and Tom Rosenstiel. "Journalism as a Public Forum." The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect. New York: Crown, 2001. Print.

Maintaining Journalism Values and Personal Faith

Someone once told me you can only write what you know. I have always taken this to mean you can only write about what you've experienced and, simultaneously, your beliefs must shape how you view the world and even how you write.

In Mind of a Journalist chapter 6 it says, "Societal values on which Journalists report are often derived from religious precepts," (Willis, 81). This means the journalistic guidelines for what makes something newsworthy, such as Gans' news values, are ultimately taken from a society's belief system which are usually formed by implementing the various religious beliefs from within the society.

So how does one balance religious beliefs with the independence, non-bias, objective ideals of journalism?

First, a journalist should be aware of how their religious preferences can impact their decision making as a journalist (Willis, 93). What people sometimes fail to realize is that most journalists have religious convictions and that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Journalists only need to be aware that their background and belief system can effect how they report a story so they can check (or have friends of other beliefs check) for bias after the rough draft story has been written.

Second, as a journalist, be sure to provide as much context as possible--focus on what happened and why it is important; if the "what" and "so what" are the focus the story should come off as independent and objective for the most part (Willis, 94).

Third, realize that your readers may have different values and beliefs than you. Make it a point to remain fair and balanced in the reporting of the facts (Willis, 95). This principle plays into the importance of acting as an independent (as opposed to an advocate for your church or your religiously influenced stance on social issues such as abortion).

Because religion can be a sensitive subject, especially in journalism, many journalists tend to avoid reporting on it as they know people do not like to be preached to through the news (Willis, 82). However, religious topic should not be ostracized altogether just to avoid the appearance of possible bias. Often times religious subjects are newsworthy such as the issues involving church and state for instance, the teaching of evolution vs. the creation theory. All newsworthy stories should be covered and covered well. These are just some tips for reporting independently and objectively regardless of the religious affiliation involved in the story or a journalist's own background.

Works Cited

Willis, Jim. "The Journalist and Faith." The Mind of a Journalist: How Reporters View Themselves, Their World, and Their Craft. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2010. Print.