Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Independence From Faction

In class as we were discussing the journalist's responsibility to remain independent from factions, there was one statement that really struck me.
Journalists often appear to come from the "cognitive elite."
It's completely true.
This could be a deterrent for journalists when they try to connect with their audience. They may come across as know-it-alls or living in a higher economic status. However, I think it also gives the public a reason to look up to journalists. Reporters should be respected for the amount of research and learning they must do for each story they produce. Still, the more a journalist appears to come from the "cognitive elite," the more they appear to stereotype themselves as members of that faction.
Factions always have an agenda. It's not always devious our self-serving, but they want to make a difference. For a journalist, it's hard to know where to draw the line concerning activism. It's not wrong to have opinions. In fact, they can't be prevented.
Michael Grunwald of the Washington Post said The Post tries not to practice advocacy in journalism. He said, "My editors never pressured me to hedge any of my findings for the sake of false balance; they just insisted that I stick to facts rather than rhetoric... That doesn't mean we can't make judgments. In The Post, I've written that the Corps is dysfunctional. In my book, I wrote that Everglades restoration is off to a rough start. But those were fact-based judgments that I could back up with documentation." Grunwald lets the facts speak for themselves.

In class, there were four examples listed to show how a journalist can keep independence from those they cover:
  • Accuracy. As Reuters says in their journalism handbook, "Accuracy is at the heart of what we do. It is our job to get it first but it is above all our job to get it right"
  • Verification.
  • Serve larger public interest.
  • Possess a desire to inform.
Of these examples, I think the most important is to serve larger public interest. It is easy to serve oneself or their employer, but serving people who you've never even met before is very difficult. In some ways, journalism is a calling. It should be treated as a service and responsibility rather than a job.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Journalism of Verification

Media consumers these days have a difficult time differentiating between news reporting and news analysis. For example, when I watch KSL at night then turn to Glenn Beck's program, I hear the same facts but portrayed very differently. Transparency is vital in the world of news; journalists are entitled to their own opinion, but they can only share it when they make their thoughts perfectly clear and separate from the facts.
Josh Wolf, a journalist who was imprisoned for refusing to give up information he reported on, believes that "objectivity is a false ideal." I completely agree. No one can be completely unbiased in their reporting because certain partialities will always remain. In fact, these opinions can actually enhance the news. Reporters with different backgrounds can give their readers or audience a fresh analysis of the facts. However, this only works if they make their bias clear and explain exactly where the facts came from.



One idea that Josh Wolf has is to teach media literacy during secondary or even primary education. If this were in effect, more children would grow up able to identify slanted news and honest journalism. They would not feel like a deceived audience, because they would be able to recognize fact from fiction and opinion.
If journalists knew their consumers were educated in media literacy from the time they were children, I think reporters would double check their facts. Bill Mitchell of the Poynter Institute believes that the tools of verification are more readily available. Journalists can access each other's work more easily, and they can keep each other in check as well as their consumers. Since media is available more now than ever before, it is important it is transparent and completely verified. A journalist can never be sure who will end up reading, watching, or listening to their story.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Journalism as a Professional Priesthood

Journalist Geneva Overholser fears the Priesthood is dead.
That's right: journalists have gone off the deep end. They are no longer looked up to or respected. There are no more Walter Cronkites in the world. In fact, journalists are no longer human.

Do I agree with this?
I am going to have to say yes. I feel like journalists are all motivated for the wrong reasons these days. They don't put the public first; they list themselves or their news organization as a higher priority.

Journalists don't use their priesthood. How, exactly, is a reporter supposed to use their position for the better? They need to connect with the audience while keeping reasonable distance and balance their occupational obligation with their legal obligation. It seems like a journalist lives in a constant state of contradiction. Everything they do will please some and disappoint others.

It's amazing that journalists don't cease to exist. The fact of the matter is this: we need them.
Twitter, blogging, and citizen journalism can only go so far. Journalists can get information that other citizens can't. They can usually get easier access to officials and important records. It's their job to investigate the goings-on in the community and report what we need to know. Often times "whistleblowers" or other people with information will leak it to the media. Journalists are the first to know things and the first to share them.

Because they have such a responsibility, journalists need to be advocates for their sources. Anonymous sources can sometimes be the greatest, because they will talk if they know their identification is secure. I am reminded of Deep Throat, an anonymous FBI source that helped Bernstien and Woodward uncover the Watergate scandal. It is crucial that journalists act as advocates for protecting their sources. The only instances that merit identification are when lives or communities are in danger.

Journalists have a lot to live up to. As they say in Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." Perhaps journalists are the "spidermans" of the professional world.

... It's a good thing that not much is expected of them these days.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Loyalty & Journalism

Henry Fielding once said, "A newspaper consists of just the same number of words, whether there be any news in it or not." While we used to find that many of those words used to be advertisements, today those ads are gone. With the newspaper industry crumbling these days, advertisers are less inclined to provide revenue for newspaper companies. The Associated Press recently reported that most new information comes from newspapers. This means that the information we get from television, radio and internet news sources--sources which are fed by newspapers--are also crumbling. This gloomy perspective presents a question:
If newspapers are falling, why not find better sources of income?
It's hard to draw the line between revenue and responsibility. Journalists rely on advertising, but their primary responsibility is to citizens. An interesting example of this is the Utah People's Post. The UPP was started by a group of citizens who realized this responsibility and decided to take care of it themselves. In fact, we're seeing this more and more: citizens informing citizens without the journalist middleman. People these days are informed about news through Twitter and Facebook instead of a newspaper.
Could it be possible for citizen journalism to envelop the five characteristics of successful a news company?
  • The owner/corporation (citizens) must be committed to citizens first. Citizens can be loyal to themselves, but they can also focus their priorities on other things. For example, across the globe some people are more loyal to their government than to other citizens. In some cults we find people who are more loyal to their religion.
  • Hire business managers who also put citizens first. Citizens might not put the reporting responsibility in the right hands. They would most likely want to listen to people who will say only what the citizens want to hear.
  • Set and communicate clear standards. As we see through personal blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, people usually say what they want. Whatever standards they have seem to come second when it comes to expressing their opinion.
  • Journalists (in our case, citizens) have the final say over the news. This is the only characteristic I don't agree with. I believe that citizens have the final say over the news, especially in the United States. In our democracy it is the people who decide what is important in their lives.
  • Communicate clear standards to the public. News companies often make their employees sign ethical or professional statements. This helps the public trust them. Would citizens be willing to bind themselves to a same type of contract? I don't think so.
Although citizen journalism is vital for information in our day, journalists are still needed. It is critical that journalists remain loyal to the citizens. If they aren't, news would cease to be news and become some mix of tabloid sensationalism or propaganda.
Still, whether our world becomes one of news corporations or citizen journalism, one thing is for sure; citizens will always have the power.




Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Blogging: Inappropriate for Professionals?

Everyone is biased: it can't be prevented. In class we discussed that not only what you say on air affects what people think of your opinions, but what you say every other day of your life.

Our professor warned us about the significantly negative influence a personal blog, social network membership, or even twitter account could have on a journalist's professional career. I thought about how often I share my personal life with the Internet, and let's face it--I put a lot out there. Granted, I'm not nearly as open as some people. I make my Facebook profile settings private, and don't treat my blog as a "dear diary"-type journal. Still, a future employer or audience could find out quite a bit about me with just a little bit of Google sleuthing.
I thought about it and came to a conclusion: I could never have a job that stifled my creative outlets through blogging, twittering or Facebooking. I would hate being a local celebrity. You would be watched wherever you went, and anything you did would be news.

I think I'll stay anonymous, thank you.