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.