Abstract della presentazione:

Journalists typically report what they know, not what they don’t know. Part of quality journalism, however, requires articulating as precisely as possible the state of a journalistic organization’s knowledge or ignorance of particular facts. In some cases, journalists consider themselves certain, or virtually certain, of specific facts. In others, they talk about “unconfirmed reports.” In still others, journalists remain completely ignorant of events, actions and facts. I argue in this paper that understanding “ignorance” as it operates in journalism requires analysis of such subtle, difficult-to-measure factors as context, authority, hierarchical compartmentalization of knowledge and semantic judgment about what degree of inadequate knowledge tips partial knowledge into ignorance. I also suggest that noting the connection of the English noun “ignorance” to the verb “ignore” provides further illumination.