pack journalism
/ˈpæk ˈdʒɝnl̩ˌɪzəm/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.01 in modern English
31
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
4
Syllables
13
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A tendency of reporting to become homogeneous due to the reporters' habit of relying on one another for news tips, or being dependent on a single source for information.
Derogatory; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The press likes to demonstrate its power by destroying lightweights, and pack journalism is never more doughty and complacent than when the pack has tacitly agreed that a candidate is a joke. As soon as a candidate shows his vulnerability by getting flustered, or by arguing when he shouldn't argue, the pack is delighted to treat him as the class clown."
- "Problems of pack journalism [heading] […] I think the herd instinct expression is one that I would use, too. I frankly try deliberately to find out which way the herd is going and run the other way."
- "The composition of the Year of the Woman discourse and its trajectory during this thirteen-month "year" revealed nuance in the construction of women candidates as political subjects but also demonstrated the pack journalism practices that abounded during this time. The differences between local and national television and print news coverage were few and consisted specifically of patterns of gendered signifiers and discourse found within news coverage of Boxer, Braun, Feinstein, Murray, and Yeakel."
- "If talented business journalists care at all about the long-term portability of their skills in a shrinking media world, succumbing to pack journalism in the crowded general news category is no way out. It makes senior, expensive reporters expendable. That was not the direction I wanted my career to be heading."
Etymology
Coined by the American journalist and writer Timothy Crouse (born 1947) in his book The Boys on the Bus (1973) about the activities of journalists during the 1972 United States presidential election: see the quotation.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpæk ˈdʒɝnl̩ˌɪzəm/
- British English: /ˈpæk ˈdʒəːn(ə)lɪz(ə)m/