6A the university daily kansan
news
thursday, february 12, 2004
Military officers discuss media
By Marc Ingber
mingber@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
International military officers from 77 different countries attended a program yesterday at the University of Kansas that explored the First Amendment and the role of free media in a democracy.
The officers were visiting from Fort Leavenworth, where they attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
The program — coordinated by Thomas Volek and Robert Basow, associate professors of journalism — included guest speakers and panels that discussed topics related to the media.
One of the main issues brought up during the program was the idea of newspapers and other media run as businesses as opposed to news sources unaffected by money.
Basow said that media outlets must still be able to profit.
"There is nothing free about free media," he told the audience.
One of the problems facing media in this country is that the rise of cable news and the media's dependence on advertising has caused diminishing amounts of actual news content, said guest speaker George Newton, an independent public relations consultant and retired military officer.
"In this country, there is a little bit of news and a lot of entertainment," he said.
The issues that Newton talked about were new concepts to some of the officers visiting from other countries.
Maj. Magnus Lindström of Sweden said one of the most interesting things he learned was the connection between money and the news and how it can affect good reporting.
"I don't agree that it's good to make business out of news," he said.
Guest speaker Malcolm Gibson, faculty general manager of The University Daily Kansan and assistant professor of journalism, said he made sure the
paper stayed away from pitfalls like that.
"There is a tradition here that there is a news-gathering part of the industry and a business-gathering part," he said.
Another issue discussed at the program was political bias in the media.
Norton fielded questions about the media's ability to remain objective when dealing with controversial subjects, such as the war in Iraq.
He said that although some journalists tried to push their own political agendas, others remained committed to doing a fair and balanced job.
—Edited by Robert Perkins
Major Mgisa L. Masha from Tanzania asked George Newton, public relations consultant, questions about Newton's speech as Tom Volek, associate professor of journalism, held the microphone.
Abbv Tillerv/Kansan