The Oklahoma City Bombing

Institutional Practices by Journalists Covering the Biggest Story of Their Lives

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12909703
AutoresRaymond Mccaffrey (0000-0002-8011-3675, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, autor correspondente)
Ano2021
Volume16
Fascículo10
Páginas1984-2000
Data de publicação2021-04-07
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournalism Practice (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1751-2786 • E-ISSN: 1751-2794
EditoraTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17512786.2021.1907212
OpenAlexW3147693647
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas21

This historical case study looks at the Oklahoma City bombing through the eyes of the local journalists who covered it. This study examined how theory concerning institutional codes and rules translated to journalism practice during an event that killed 168 people in 1995. More than 1,700 pages of transcripts of interviews with 83 local journalists were reviewed at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. These accounts serve as evidence of a link between professional journalism practices and the institutional rules taught in journalism schools and outlined in journalistic ethics codes. The journalists’ most powerful motivation was a sense of responsibility informed by core journalistic principles such as seeking the truth, providing accurate information, and remaining impartial and fair. The journalists spoke of following unwritten rules calling for risk-taking, emotional detachment, and stoicism. The journalists also talked about experiencing symptoms common to those suffering from trauma-and stressor-related mental disorders. The coverage also was historically significant because of how a bank loan officer’s wrenching Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of an Oklahoma City firefighter holding the body of a bloodied child augured the rise of citizen journalists and the new ethical challenges faced by mainstream media outlets in the coming Internet age

Citizen journalism · Ethical code · Journalism · Mainstream · Media studies · Officer · Political science · Professional responsibility · Public relations · Sociology · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Rhetoric and Communication Studies