17 November 2009
Journalism in Harry Potter
Journalism is considered the fourth estate in the United States. Journalism checks the government’s actions. The media affects the public’s view of the government and can be a very powerful source of persuasion. In the Harry Potter series, the news media does not operate in a responsible or credible manner. The Harry Potter series portrays journalism in a negative light and has affected children’s views on journalism.
It is important to start by taking a look at how media and journalism effects the government and the public in the United States when it operates correctly. Credible journalism monitors the government and questions its actions. It reports what it finds whether it is favorable or unfavorable. There have been many investigative journalists who have revealed scandals or lies in the government. A great example is the Watergate scandal which was investigated and reported by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. Great journalism performs this role as a watch dog and monitors the government.
In the Harry Potter series, journalism and the media does not fill this important role. The Daily Prophet becomes a puppet of the Ministry of Magic and does not monitor its activity. The Daily Prophet allows the Ministry to feed lies to it and then the Daily Prophet reports the stories without checking to see if it is a reliable and fact based story. “The central purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with accurate and reliable information they need to function in a free society” (Brooks 486). The Quibbler, which has the image of being an unreliable journalistic source, does not allow the influence of the Ministry to affect what they print. The only exception to this is in the Deathly Hallows when the Death Eaters kidnap Luna Lovegood. Also, when the Prophet is publishing lies about Harry Potter, the Quibbler agrees to publish Harry’s side of the story which is actually one of the only good journalistic pieces referenced in the series.
A Study at Baylor University came to the following conclusion based on a study of how the books effected perceptions of news media:
“Journalism as portrayed in the Potter world is heavily slanted and misleading. Information is often obtained through unethical and illegal means and is intended to damage the credibility of the subjects concerned. In addition, only one journalist of any consequence is mentioned by name in the series, and she is revealed to be the epitome of the corrupt, yellow journalist stereotype” (Libhart 20).
This is a very problematic portrayal of journalism in the Harry Potter series which allows students to create negative views on the news media and journalism because of the examples in a popular book series.
Rita Skeeter is a poor example of a journalist and makes many basic mistakes that make her an incredible journalist. First of all, with her Quick Quotes Quill she misquotes her sources. One of the most important aspects of journalism is to correctly quote your sources. Journalists spend a lot of time checking and double checking that they are correctly quoting their sources. If a media source incorrectly quotes a source they could be sued for liable. “The article had appeared 10 days ago, and Harry still got sick, burning feeling of shame in his stomach every time he thought about it. Rita Skeeter had reported him saying an awful lot of things he couldn’t remember ever saying in his life, let alone in that broom cupboard” (Rowling 314). What Rita Skeeter does to Harry can be considered liable because she defames his character and misquotes him to her advantage.
The article that Rita Skeeter publishes about Hermione breaking Harry’s heart could also be considered liable and Hermione could sue Rita for the damages that the article causes her. Hermione receives hate mail from readers and suffers as a result of the article. Some people argue that everyone knows that Rita Skeeter does not tell the truth. However, even the sensible Mrs. Weasley believes Rita’s article and is cold toward Hermione until Harry and Hermione directly tell her that the article is full of lies. Rita’s reporting techniques are very unethical and could potentially lead to legal consequences.
Rita also uses a very questionable method to obtain information. The way that Rita eavesdrops on conversations through being an unregistered Animagus could be considered problematic. This method could be considered trespassing, considering that Dumbledore did kick Rita Skeeter off Hogwarts property, or even invasion of privacy when she listens in on private conversations. Hermione questions how Rita Skeeter is eavesdropping on private conversations. When Rita ‘bugs’ private conversations this is an unethical journalistic practice.
The poor examples of journalism in Harry Potter give the field a bad image. Children read the Harry Potter books and get the wrong impression of journalism through the books. ‘“The books present an unnecessarily pessimistic view of journalism today,’ says Dr. Amanda Sturgill, senior lecturer in journalism at Baylor and one of the study co-authors. ‘Since literature can play an important role in helping children learn and possibly empathize with situations experienced by the characters, the potential for influence on journalism is strong’”(Fogelman 4). The Daily Prophet and Rita Skeeter are the impression that readers get of journalism and it has effected some readers views of journalism in the non-magical world. The impressions left by the Harry Potter series could lead children to believe that the journalistic field is a poor career choice and that newspapers or news media cannot be trusted.
Works Cited
Brooks, Brian S., et al. News Reporting and Writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2008. Print.
Fogleman, Lori. "Newspapers Already Struggling- and 'Harry Potter' Doesn't Help." Baylor University N.p., 29 July 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
Libhart, Tina, Amanda Sturgill, and Jessica Winney. "Harry Potter and Children's Perceptions of the News Media." American Communication Journal 10.1 (2008).
Rowling, J.K. 2000. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Scholastic.
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