This issue puts the behavior of a range of media professionals under the microscope. First, Scott Stroud confronts the pressing dilemma of fake news and attempts to stake out a pragmatist approach to more clearly identify the nature of fake news and steps to help counter it. John Dewey’s pluralistic approach can help us clarify the multiple factors and forces to better understand and fight the fake news phenomenon, Stroud argues.
Plenty has been written about the psychological challenges journalists face when covering traumatic events, as well as the sensitivity that interviewing relatives of victims demands. But few have asked those relatives to describe their interactions with journalists. Anette Forsberg explores how relatives feel that journalists did right by them – or failed to – during what was a vulnerable time. Next, Chris Roberts explores the conundrum of local journalism with global reach. We must take more seriously the concept of “community privacy” and respect the divergent needs of local and global audiences, he suggests, and refers to several practical steps that more news organizations should consider to do so.
Public relations crises are inevitable. How might organizations turn such situations to their advantage by treating them into turning points rather than catastrophes? Allison Peiritsch applies the framework of discourse renewal, and its implicitly Kantian foundation, to the response by Starbucks of a racial bias incident in one of its stores. And finally, Mark Baillie provides an analysis of the UK media coverage of Gypsy, Roma and Traveler populations and suggests its one-dimensional reporting may reinforce negative stereotypes.