ZKS01 Principles of Crisis Coverage for Journalists

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2024

The course is not taught in Autumn 2024

Extent and Intensity
12/15/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Ing. Rudolf Burgr, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Zuzana Masopustová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
doc. MgA. Jan Motal, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Ing. Rudolf Burgr, Ph.D.
Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Rudolf Burgr, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Media Studies and Journalism – Faculty of Social Studies
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
Course objectives
The course will focus on the issue of journalistic coverage of crisis situations, with an emphasis on the work of journalists with vulnerable groups of people (homeless people, refugees, children, victims of crime/disasters,... ), evaluating information in crises (with an emphasis on understanding the negative role of speculation and misinformation) and dealing with experts and experts (what to ask from people in the expert field, how to deal with them, how to work with the information provided).
In the form of thematically focused webinars, learners will learn through lectures by lecturers and tutors who specialize in selected topics, the most important issues and ethical solutions to working with vulnerable groups of people, how to portray them, how to work with information in terms of possible manipulation and how to understand what happens to people in crisis situations.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, learners will be able to:
- understand the basic concepts and terms of journalistic ethics in relation to vulnerable groups and crisis events
- understand the specificity of crisis situations and orient themselves in the ethical principles of professional work in them
- be familiar with available literature, materials and codes of practice
- understand the psychological and social context of selected phenomena
Syllabus
  • HUMAN DIGNITY, REFUGEEISM - LECTURER JAN MOTAL
  • normative foundations of journalistic ethics, the question of human dignity
  • journalism, democracy and human rights ethos
  • moral panic, dehumanization, stigmatization
  • issues of ethical representation of ethnic and other minorities
  • refugees and migration in the Czech media
  • DISINFORMATION - LECTURED BY LUCIE ČEJKOVÁ
  • misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy - state of knowledge and classification of terms
  • the relationship of misinformation and conspiracy thinking to  ne/trust in media and the institution
  • the spread of false information in exposed periods (crisis, elections, ...)
  • selected methods of intervention against misinformation and conspiracies
  • the role of journalism in interventions against disinformation and conspiracies
  • HOMELESSNESS - LECTURER VOJTĚCH DVOŘÁK
  • introduction to homelessness: definition, causes, manifestations, forms of homelessness
  • specifics and overlap with other vulnerable groups
  • media coverage of homelessness: the most common forms of stereotyping and negative or simplistic portrayals of homelessness
  • the consequences of stereotyping for homeless people and society
  • From empathy to solidarity: the limits of advocacy and compassion through the lens of empowerment and social change
  • ethical issues in direct contact with homeless people
  • PSYCHOLOGICAL PART - LECTURER ZUZANA MASOPUSTOVÁ:
  • what happens to people during a crisis and emergency - to people on the ground, to consumers of media content
  • stages of reaction to an emergency - on the side of the affected, on the side of society, on the side of media consumers, on the side of journalists the needs of the IRS, aid coordinators, the state - the role of the media
  • the objectives of media coverage at different stages
  • the risks associated with  individual stages
  • specifics of different types of emergencies
  • compatibility of the ethical functioning of the medium with the medium's profile and its objectives/needs
  • how to deal with  unverified news circulating elsewhere - dilemmas (what happens if we don't report on it)
  • covering events with particularly vulnerable people - children, people with mental illness, victims, suicide or attempted suicide, domestic violence, sexualised violence, young offenders
  • risks of secondary victimisation
  • risks of creating or reinforcing prejudice
  • what to use psychological professionals for and how?
Literature
    required literature
  • The handbook of mass media ethics. Edited by Lee Wilkins - Clifford G. Christians. New York: Routledge, 2008, xiv, 398. ISBN 9781410615480. info
  • PAVLÍČEK, Václav and Helena HOFMANNOVÁ. Občanská a lidská práva v současné době. Praha: Auditorium, 2014, 306 s. ISBN 9788087284513. info
    recommended literature
  • KIERAN, Matthew. Media ethics :a philosophical approach. 1st pub. Westport: Praeger, 1997, ix, 168 s. ISBN 0-275-96694-1. info
Teaching methods
Webinar - lecture, Q&A, independent reading
Assessment methods
Activity (Q&A), final test of the main concepts
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught each semester.
The course is taught: in blocks.
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