Gotcha journalism

Gotcha journalism is a pejorative term used by media critics to describe interviewing methods that appear designed to entrap interviewees into making statements that are damaging or discreditable to their cause, character, integrity, or reputation.[1] The term, which emerged in the run-up to the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election,[2] (namely during an interview of Sarah Palin by Katie Couric), is rooted in an assertion that the interviewer may be supporting a hidden agenda, and aims to make film or sound recordings of the interviewee which may be selectively edited, compiled, and broadcast or published in order to intentionally show the subject in an unfavorable light.[3] The term derives from the word gotcha, a contracted form of "got you".

Techniques

Techniques discussed here can be used to get a subject with something genuinely discreditable to hide to reveal wrongdoing; there can be a fine line between robust and gotcha journalism. Some methods claimed to be gotcha journalism by those involved include moving away from the agreed upon topic of the interview and switching to an embarrassing subject that was agreed to be out-of-bounds and leading the interviewee to discuss it and commit to a certain answer, then, confronting them with prepared material designed to contradict or discredit that position. Gotcha journalism is often designed to keep the interviewee on the defensive by, for example, being required to explain some of their own statements taken out of context thus effectively preventing the interviewee from clearly presenting their position.[3] The intent of gotcha journalism is always premeditated and used to defame or discredit the interviewees by portraying them as self-contradictory, malevolent, unqualified, or immoral.[4] It has also been used as an excuse to evade a question to which the interviewee does not know the answer, and where their lack of knowledge would make them appear foolish or uninformed

See also

References

  1. ↑ Two Cheers for Minority Government: The Evolution of Canadian Parliamentary Democracy By Peter H. Russell 2008 p167
  2. ↑ http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=%22gotcha%20journalism%22
  3. 1 2 Be A Freelance Writer Surayud Chulanont Global Media ISBN 81-89940-33-3, ISBN 978-81-89940-33-1
  4. ↑ With Malice Toward All? Patricia Moy, Michael Pfau p43

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.