Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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Item “A CONSTANT FIGHT WITH OUR MORALS:” EXAMINING UKRAINIAN JOURNALISTS’ NORMATIVE DEMOCRATIC BELIEFS AMID PLURALISM, PROPAGANDA, AND WAR(2018) Nynka, Andrew; Oates, Sarah; Journalism; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This work addresses a central problem in contemporary democratic theory. John Rawls, the American political philosopher, defined the potential problem of division in plural, liberal democracy: “How is it possible that there may exist over time a stable and just society of free and equal citizens profoundly divided by reasonable though incompatible religious, philosophical, and moral doctrines?” In considering the question of social division, this dissertation asked whether journalists in Ukraine – a country dealing with propaganda, fake news, war, and a difficult transition to liberal democracy – believe they should play a role amid such tension. Qualitative in-depth, semi-structured interviews of 31 Ukrainian reporters probed their normative beliefs for a journalistic pragmatism that represents the full spectrum of beliefs and positions in their society. This research also contrasts and compares the broader normative beliefs of post-Soviet Ukrainian journalists with Western normative journalism theory by analyzing interviews conducted with 41 American journalists. This dissertation used the theoretical work of pragmatist philosopher Richard Rorty, who argued that journalists could ease tension in plural society by fulfilling normative journalism theory’s charge for reporters to be a voice for the voiceless. It was hypothesized that journalists in Ukraine would deprioritize journalistic pragmatism, while prioritizing war-time reporting that polarizes society, primarily because of three factors: the business needs of the press, war in Ukraine, and the legacy of Soviet culture on journalistic norms. The findings defied expectations to a degree by showing that journalists believe the press should represent the full spectrum of positions and beliefs in Ukraine and they should uphold established western norms. Journalists said oligarchic ownership of media and a legacy of control over the press by people in power limit their independence. The findings show division on objectivity: roughly half believe reporters must remain neutral amid pro-Russian propaganda and fake news, while the second half said objectivity leads to false equivalency. Journalists said on-the-ground, factual reporting can fight propaganda and fake news. Analysis of the U.S. interviews showed more convergence of concerns between Ukrainian and American reporters than was expected, suggesting that journalistic norms can transcend country contexts to an unexpected degree.Item Tributes To Fallen Journalists: The Evolution Of The Hero Myth In Journalistic Practice(2013) McCaffrey, Raymond; Chinoy, Ira; Journalism; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation explores a hero mythology in newspaper tributes to fallen journalists and examines whether these stories implicitly or explicitly encouraged risk-taking by reporters and discouraged them from acknowledging the psychological consequences of that behavior. This historical case study uses qualitative methods to analyze New York Times tributes to U.S. journalists who died from 1854 to 2012 and whose names appeared on the Journalists Memorial at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. This study finds that the Times wrote about 274 of the 362 fallen journalists and depicted one in four in heroic terms, with their stories invoking themes often found in classic hero myths. Eighty percent of these hero journalists were on foreign assignments that typically involved covering war. Virtually all of these hero journalists killed in the United States were targeted because of their journalistic work. These journalists were seen as answering a call and giving their lives in service to a greater cause often tied to normative journalistic values, such as pursuing the truth. The tributes for 27 percent of these journalists mentioned qualities associated with risk-taking, such as courage. One in ten of these journalists embodied a type of stoicism that involved them downplaying personal hardship. A central finding of this study suggests that this hero mythology emerged in the mid-1920s, immediately after the adoption of state and national journalism ethics codes and the opening of the first journalism schools in the United States. Consequently, this mythology served as vital part of American journalism's professional movement, melding tacit journalistic codes with the tales of heroic fallen journalists. These hero myths evolved, reaching their zenith during World War II, when the U.S. government assisted in this idolatry. This hero mythology then ebbed until resurfacing sporadically during the Vietnam War and Watergate era with antihero journalists whose work seemed to be in direct opposition to the authorities who once celebrated them. The post 9/11-era saw a resurgence of the hero myth despite the advent of research that questioned whether journalism's so-called macho code discouraged journalists from seeking treatment for occupational mental health risks such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.