Croatology, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2011.
Original scientific paper
Truthfulness and Objectivity Of Information and Socially Harmful Forms of Communication
Danijel Labaš
orcid.org/0000-0002-2339-6277
; Hrvatski studiji Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Tanja Grmuša
orcid.org/0000-0002-2675-0171
; Visoka poslovna škola Zagreb s pravom javnosti, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
Truth and authenticity of information create a precondition of trust which forms the basis of the relationship between the communicator – the media – and the recipients. Truthfulness and objectivity are inarguably the cornerstones of media credibility. It is the process of creating trust which takes a long time to build and which can disappear in a moment. Moreover, truth and credibility guarantee quality journalism. As they write for Others, journalists are also responsible for creating images of Others. They often, (not always) consciously, use a range of stereotypes to describe patterns and traits, which are in turn mechanically adopted and may prevent the reader from learning about subsequent experiences, especially when the descriptions are negative. Journalists are often responsible for creating negative images of others and they almost daily cross the thin line between awkward statements and critical, almost defamatory statements. These are socially harmful forms of journalistic communication, which include ideology, media manipulation (disinformation, misinformation and hidden advertising), defamation and hate speech. To what extent reporters uphold the basic principles of journalistic reporting (truth, objectivity) and whether they use socially-harmful forms of communication in their discourse has been examined in the case of the presidential campaign, which proved to be an important political, social and media event. Over a month, a total of 719 articles in three journals: Jutarnji list, Večernji list and Vjesnik were analyzed, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Keywords
truth; objectivity; credibility of the media; stereotyping; socially harmful forms of communication
Hrčak ID:
80426
URI
Publication date:
23.4.2012.
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