friday, October 2, 1981
daily nebraskan
page 9
Media manipulation at record burning criticized
Editori note: All news pa Den sav thev ar mmmiitpH
to informing their readers. But sometimes it becomes ne
cessary to inform readers on how and why decisions are
made the way they are. Throughout the semester, News
Editor Steve Miller will be addressing these issues as they
occur.
Some events are especially attractive to the news desk.
The record-burning ceremony Tuesday in Grand Island
was such an event.
mm
It was a chance to get some good photographs, an inter
esting story and a little color in the news section of the
Daily Nebraskan.
Not all stories have that much to offer. Many of them
simply have to be done.
The problem with the record burning story was that it
had the smell of a media event - an event staged only for
publicity. Media events often are the closest thing to fic
tion the news desk of any paper will run. They are, to
some degree, fabricated.
I have no doubt the people involved were sincere. I'm
sure they were. But they were manipulating the media to
some degree. Worse yet, as reported in Wednesday's Daily
Foreign teaching. . .
Continued From Page 1
Meanwhile, students of foreign teaching assistants
should make an effort to meet the teacher on a personal
level, Sharifl said.
"Students should always try to talk to their teachers
anyway," he said. "If they can go in and just talk to him
or her for an hour or so, they will become accustomed to
the person's dialect, and in the process get to know the
person," Sharif! said.
Most department chairmen will hire the student that
has the "greater mind," he said. The chairman will hire
one who will contribute the most to the university, he
said.
"Because of that, most of the foreign students, both
graduate and undergraduate, are bright compared to the
average American student," Sharifi said. "They are both
usually the cream of the crop."
Nebraskan, the press did some manipulating of its own.
The news desk had to decide whether to run the story
becausea group of people were doing something news
worthy or to rebel against the manipulation involved and
ignore the story.
Everybody does it
Nothing good can be said about manipulation of the
media but the fact remains that it is always with us. Poli
ticians manipulate the press, religious leaders do it, peo
ple make livings by manipulating the news for other peo
ple and companies have been built around the idea.
Often, when we allow ourselves to be manipulated, we
do the public a disservice. We jeopardize the independence,
needed to do our job. Stories manipulated into print often
are one-sided, weighted heavily by philosophy and serve
no purpose but to get a name into print.
The media have many reasons to avoid manipulation.
But avoidance can go too far. The dangerous part of deal- -ing
with manipulation is deciding whether the story or
event is merely advertising or whether it really is news.
Some papers come just short of banning stories con
cerning the Moral Majority. It's a touchy situation. Does
continuous coverage gain or hurt news credibility?
The Moral Majority is only one example. I believe tac
tics used by the Rev. Jerry Falwell were especially effec
tive. For a time he was covered in the news every day.
There must have been an excruciating moment for many
editors when they realized how far they had been sucked
up by the maneuvers of Falwell and his public relations
people.
But legitimate news about the Moral Majority may now
be left out. Again, that is a disservice.
Burning and breaking newsworthy
In the case of the record-burning event, I considered
what I thought to be the sincerity of the people involved.
Imm
There was some manipulation by the church group, but
that does not diminish the fact that the people involved
were burning album covers and breaking albums with a
hammer because they believe they cannot be both Chris
tians and rock V roll lovers.
I think that is newsworthy.
But I regret the media manipulating the event The
media never should be allowed to interfere with the natu
ral course of such events.
It is hard for people to act naturally and intelligently
when television crews with cameras and lights and pho
tographers and reporters with notepads swarm around
them. It is difficult for me to believe that members of the
media asked members of the church group to start earlier
- so daylight would light the scene for the cameras - and
asked them to repeat actions for the cameras action is
better for pictures.
I do not like manipulation but I do not regret covering
the record burning. I do regret performances by members
of the media.
D
a
D
looaaaoaa
OH WEEKENDS
AS THE HARRIS MAN. Earn up to $700
just lor being healthy and at least
vAv
r
D
0
D
a
n
a
0 nineteen. Weekend pay but hardly fl
FflT CITY
flfflUSEfflENTS
13th & F St.
lO a.m. - 11 p.m. Everyday
Bring This fid in For One
FREE GflfTlE
Of Your Choice!
(Expires
10981)
Man. Call today.
p any work to help Harris evaluate
Harris Laboratories fully explain
0 medically supervised studies and
Q give you a free physical.
n xou migni quarny as ine riarns
u
D
0
D
0
D
-4 years txpenence m Meaicai Kesearcn-
HARRIS LABORATORIES, INC.
624 Peach Street
Lincoln. Nebraska 68508
-47 Years Experience In Medical Research-
a
D
a
D
a
474-0627 D
Weekdays D
a
a
n
Red Cowboy
T-shirt
S to XL $5.95
0J I Cowboy Hat - ,
v $12.95
I 1 f r
- JzTT"-- - . . ? v ' ii: ;fJf.tjZrz' ,TT !
" H Am
Heather Red
T-Shirt
S to XL $5.75
someplace
V somewhere
inskJe otvou
75 rri
50 1 1
I
Red Nebraska
Pennant $5.
Red & White
Jersey
StoXL$
Open Monday-Friday, 8-5:30, Saturday, 9-5:30
fi a bookstore
12th &R Streets In Lincoln Center 476-0111
