ABSTRACT
The tradition of the newscaster in a democratic society is that he is an objective reporter of events. The fear is that any effort to guide the newscaster towards a more humanistic presentation might well involve tampering with the objectivity of the journalistic report. Operating within the framework of objective reporting, the newscaster should avoid juxtaposing the news of the death of a person in a car accident, or news of a war with the happy excitement of a commercial for a new toothpaste. The newscaster might seek to convey as much as possible the human meaning of violent events by projecting for local stories of violence through their impact on individuals, families, and the community. The newscaster can convey a respectful tentativeness in the way he reports government explanations of a military incursion, expedition, or response, thus implying that there are aspects of the situation that are not immediately observable or known.
