What it means to be journalist... take 2

At the beginning of the semester, I wrote about what it means to be a journalist.  My understanding of the principles of journalism and all that the career entails has increased significantly.  So much so that although I have learned so much, I feel like I have only scratched the surface.

My understanding is that it is not about whether someone is called a journalist or not.  What's important is whether or not they are doing journalism.  A journalist's work proceeds from an adherence to the principles of truthfulness, an allegiance to citizens, and to informing rather than manipulating.  A journalist has an ultimate commitment to the truth.  They have an unwavering loyalty to the citizens and act as watchdogs to those in power.  A journalist strives to present news that is comprehensive and proportional.  They are storytellers that make the significant interesting and relevant.

Journalists are fundamental to democracy.  They allow citizens to be self-governing by providing them with information.  Information can so freely be shared by dozens of mediums in the world today, and almost anyone can share it.  But journalism is so much more than just communicating.  A journalist works to make their society better.  They carry on the conversation of the people in their community and give a voice to the voiceless.

Journalism is a profession, but it is also a higher calling of  serving others.  It is clear that many journalists will risk everything to give the people information so that they may be sovereign.  I hope to do the same in my career someday.

I think John Hughes said it best when he called journalism "a magical career."

Objectivity

What is the true definition of objectivity? And, how does objectivity provide a framework for you to function ethically as a journalist?

My understanding of objectivity has changed a lot over the past year.  My idea of what objectivity meant was, I'm sure, what most people believe it means today; letting go of absolutely all of your personal beliefs, opinions, values, or perspectives.  I thought that to be a good journalist, you have to be completely neutral.  I understand now that having a unique and individual worldview does not mean that one has a bias or prejudice in reporting.  In fact, the beliefs and values that make you unique as a person will make your reporting unique as well.  If we abandon our worldviews, reporting would be inorganic and frankly, boring.  Complete objectivity does not exist, and journalists are not free of bias.  The true definition of objectivity is a consistent method of testing information.  It is a transparent approach to evidence so that personal and cultural biases do not undermine the accuracy of one's work. 

Objectivity provides a framework for me to function ethically as a journalists by giving me a method to gather information accurately and transparently.  Although I may not be objective, my method should be.  Here are five questions I can ask myself to see if my method is objective.

1) Am I adding anything that was not there?

2) Am I deceiving the audience?

3) Am I being as transparent as possible about my methods and motives?

4) Am I relying on my own original reporting?

5) Am I exercising humility?   

Surely these questions do not cover everything, but they offer a basic framework that allows for objective reporting.  

What are your motivations in becoming a journalist?

I admit that I have not always wanted to become a journalist.  I did not grow up cutting out my favorite newspaper articles or doing fake newscasts with hairbrush microphones.  But I do know now that this is the career for me.  I want to be a journalist for many reasons.  Perhaps the biggest one is to serve the public and make society better.

Journalists can serve as watchdogs to the government and business leaders.  They can put corrupt people to justice as well as highlight the good many people do throughout the community.  As a journalist, I want to right the wrongs and make my community a better place.  

Another motivation is that I have always been fascinated by the world around me.  It is my dream to travel the world, learn about different cultures, learn new languages, and meet new people.  So perhaps it is a certain sense of adventure that motivates me in becoming a journalist.  Yes I want to inform the public accurately about events they might otherwise not know, but being there and experiencing the news first-hand excites me.

I absolutely love the story Anderson Cooper tells of his experience in Croatia as a freelance journalist.

"I'd just set up my tripod when I heard a loud crack.  I turned and saw a tile fall off a nearby column.  But the time it hit the ground, I realized that it had been struck by a bullet.  Someone had taken a shot... I captured some of it on camera, and narrated what I was seeing.  I was white as a corpse.  When I looked at the tape recently, though, I saw something I hadn't remembered.  I noticed the faint hint of a smile on my face."

The thought of being a part of it all, making connections with people, and making my community better brings the biggest smile to my face.     

Blowing the facts out of proportion

A couple years ago, news of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, seemed to take over news media.  Every news station had dramatic reports about how this new, never-before-seen virus has mutated and was likely to infect millions of people.  It was called a "pandemic" and news organizations hosted experts on infectious diseases to warn citizens everywhere to take care and be vaccinated.

I remember being afraid of getting this flu.  I remember talking with my fellow students and hearing rumors about school being closed in the future because of the "pandemic."

Looking back, I believe that stories about the H1N1 virus were completely blown out of proportion.  The facts were not always necessarily false, but it was covered so much that it was taken to be something bigger and more serious than it was.  News stations used dramatic language and reported on deaths, when in reality, thousands more people died every year from the normal flu than from the few that died from the H1N1 virus.  

In fact, both of my little brothers contracted the swine flu, and only suffered from mild symptoms for a day or two.  

I think that news organizations should have presented the facts in proportion to how the swine flu compares to the normal seasonal flu's   This would have put the severity of the virus in perspective.  Yes, it was a dramatic and new sickness, but it did not deserve the amount of coverage it received.  

CNN even acknowledged that journalists needed to be more careful about how much they talk about it, and what they tell the citizens.

I think they did a good job of explaining what the virus does and how it can affect people, while also not blowing it out of proportion like other networks.

“Journalism is our modern cartography. It creates a map for citizens to navigate society. That is its utility and its economic reason for being. This concept of cartography helps clarify the question of what journalism has a responsibility to cover. As with any map, journalism’s value depends on it completeness and proportionality” (208).

How can journalists make the significant interesting, without making it sensational?

Police find Mitt Romney practicing witchcraft with Brazilian prostitute

...Just kidding.  I hate to trick you like this, but really, wouldn't this be an amazingly interesting story?  I must admit that I find sensationalism rather entertaining.  Do I want to hear more when a broadcaster tells me my skinny jeans could kill me?  Am I curious as to what new spells Mitt is casting lately?  Yes.  Do I recognize that it is ridiculous?  I like to think so.  

Sensationalism is a type of bias in the media in which news stories are enhanced, dramatized, and the truth is stretched in order to increase viewership or readership.  Yes, it is entertaining, but it is simply not reliable news.  

Journalists may be tempted to stretch the truth or tell a story in a way that will draw readers in.  And writing an engaging and relevant story is important, but there must be a balance.  Journalists should first and foremost seek the truth.  Then they can work on writing the story in a compelling way.  Our textbook puts it this way:  "Journalism is storytelling with a purpose.  That purpose is to provide people with the information they need to understand the world.  The first challenge is finding the information that people need to live their lives.  The second is to make it meaningful, relevant, and engaging" (189).

So how do they do this?  How do they make the significant interesting without making it sensational?  First, they can start off by asking these questions:

1) What's the story really about?

2) Who is the audience for this story and what information do these people need to know to make up their own minds about the subject?

3) Who has the information?

4) What's the best way to tell the story?

It is my opinion that the quality of the story depends so much on the effort the journalist puts into it.  It is so important to be creative and think about what way is the best way to go about writing the story.  Perhaps the best way to write the story is not in the typical inverted pyramid form.  There are many different approaches one can take, such as a profile, a narrative, or even a Q&A.  Think of which option will be most relevant to the topic and to the audience.  Make an effort to develop characters and use compelling quotes.  News doesn't have to be boring, and an interesting, colorful story doesn't have to be fiction.  

It may be tricky, but journalists can write interesting and relevant stories without creating sensationalism.  Yes, gossip and scandal is entertaining.  But the world around us is fascinating enough without being embellished.  

Journalism as a public forum

“Journalists must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise” (Kovach & Rosenstiel 166).

Debate and argument is everywhere. Media outlets present issues and conflict everyday. However, more often than not, the issues are presented as polarized extremes that exclude the majority of citizens who reside in the middle of the spectrum. These outlets also tend to focus on their opinions rather than the news.
Journalists should provide a public forum with an emphasis on facts and verification. When journalists inform the public on issues, it encourages judgement. The public hears the issues and reacts throughout the community. Their voices are heard on the radio, talk shows, opinion editorials, and blogs.

“I’m very much inspired by this culture of people who believe that journalism should be about raising hell in an intelligent way. But I don’t mean throwing a brick at someone’s head and saying ‘Yeah, yeah, you’re a jerk.’ You should really be provoking people to think – challenging them to justify and defend their ideas, just as I have to justify and defend mine” (Jon Katz).

An example of this is when Jon Stewart appeared on an episode of Crossfire. He criticized them for not allowing actual debate and being partisan hacks.

"Unless the forum is based on a foundation of fact and context, the questions citizens ask will become simply rhetorical. The debate will cease to educate; it will only reinforce the prejudgments people arrive with. The public will be less able to participate in solutions. Public discourse will dissolve into noise, which the majority of the public will tune out. The worry is not the wondrous addition of citizen media, but the decline of full-time, professional monitoring of powerful institutions. The forum must adhere to all other journalistic principles" (Kovach & Rosenstiel 184).


I believe that journalists should provide a forum for public criticism and compromise because they are the only people who can effectively find out if assertions of arguments are actually true.  They are the only ones who can investigate the backgrounds and motives of various factions.  A forum without a regard to facts cannot inform.  Talk is cheap, and opinion has taken over the media.  Truth and verification in a public forum is more important now than ever.  

Investigative Journalism

“Investigative reporting’s roots were firmly established in the very first periodicals, in the earliest notions of the meaning of a free press and the First Amendment, and in the motivation of journalists throughout the profession’s history. These roots are so strong, they form a fundamental principle: journalists must serve as an independent monitor of power” (Kovach & Rosenstiel 140). Journalists since the very beginning have played a role as a watchdog. Their duty is to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable," and to hold powerful interests accountable.  By doing this, journalists have withheld the standard of democracy and freedom.  Investigative Journalism has played an important role in my life as well as many others.

The investigative reporting of the NY Times and the Washington Post of the Pentagon Papers led to the lawsuit NY Times Co. v. United States and eventually resulted in the landmark decision that made it possible for the newspapers to publish the classified documents without government censorship. This victory has made it possible for journalists throughout the US to investigate those in power and continue to act as watchdogs.

One investigative piece that has influenced my life is entitled "Violated: 'Broken' system fails elderly abuse victims" written by investigative reporter Brad Schrade of the Star Tribune.  This story shows how federal records demonstrated that reports of abuse of elderly victims in Minnesota have fallen short.  The article and it's proof of the neglect of Minnesota nursing homes has led to the closing of the Good Samaritan home, whose workers tormented and abused the residents.

http://www.startribune.com/local/123163388.html

This report influences me because I am from Minnesota.  I have been to this nursing home and spoken to residents there in my past.  I have relatives in homes such as the one in the story and it has opened my eyes about how few regualtions there are in the treatment of the residents.  It is shocking to me the horror of their situation and I would not have known about this if it weren't for the investigation.  This report has made the abused residents situation better, and will hopefully hold those responsible accountable.

Journalism and Neutrality

          Journalists are never free of bias. Each person has different life experiences, different cultures, grew up in different places in different social classes. But they still have the responsibility to be transparent and accurate in their journalism. However, journalists should not be neutral, and neutrality does not necessarily mean a story is true or unbiased. When it is impossible to check your bias, perspective, or worldview at the door, one may question how it is even possible to accurately cover the news. However, objectivity is not to step away from your bias. Instead, it is a consistent, transparent method of testing your facts. When we realize that journalists, no matter what, will have different worldviews, we can instead focus on how to still report accurate and truthful stories despite these differences. Even though a journalist has an opinion, they can still be accurate if they stick to the facts above all else and have an unwavering dedication to the truth. This is done by following this set of concepts outlined in "The Elements of Journalism."

1. Never add anything that was not there

2. Never deceive the audience

3. Be as transparent as possible about your methods and motives

4. Rely on your own original reporting

5. Exercise humility

          By recognizing that journalists mustn't be neutral and that objectivity is a method rather than an aim, I have a higher respect for the news when it is accurate and I understand better what it takes to produce truthful stories. As Journalists, we should embrace our beliefs and perspectives without promoting them to the reader/audience

          "In the end it is good judgment, and an abiding commitment to the principle of first allegiance to citizens, that separates the journalist from the partisan. Having an opinion is not only allowable, not only natural, but it is valuable to the natural skepticism with which any good reporter approaches a story. But a journalist must be smart enough and honest enough to recognize that opinion must be based on something more substantial than personal beliefs if it is to be of journalistic use” (Kovach & Rosenstiel).

http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2007/10/giving-objectivity-a-bad-name/

Journalism's first loyalty is to citizens

A recent broadcast at KSL 

There is a new trend of tying the income of journalists to something other than the quality of their journalism.  "Quality factors often make up half or less of the decision criteria.  The bonuses of newsroom executives today are based in large part on how much profit their companies make" (Kovach & Rosenstiel 51).  According to the book, half of them report that a third of their time is spent on business matters rather than journalism.  This fact is one of the key reasons citizens have lost confidence in the press.

Journalism is indeed a business.  And perhaps it is influenced at times by budgets and numbers.  But my research and conclusion is that journalists today, are loyal to and first serve citizens.

In 1986, the founder of the New York Times, Adolph Ochs, was tired of the sensationalism and yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.  He concluded that he would offer a truthful and accurate style of journalism.  He published his simple goal:

"to give the news impartially, without fear or favor, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved."

Many newspapers at the time reprinted the same or similar statements.  They realized that putting the interest of the audience first was the smartest long-term financial strategy, and newspapers and news organizations follow this today as well.

In the 1999 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Committee of Concerned Journalists, they asked, "For whom do you serve?"   70 percent of the journalists placed "audience" as their first loyalty.  Even above their employers, themselves, their profession, or their families.  It is clear how important citizens still are to journalists today.

The book we are reading in class, "the Elements of Journalism," shared a quote from a former newscaster named Nick Clooney, that I thought was particularly profound.

"Whenever I was having a discussion with a general manager or a member of the board of directors, my bottom line was always, 'I don't work for you.  You're paying my check and I'm very pleased.  But the truth of the matter is, I don't work for you, and if it comes down to a question of loyalty, my loyalty will be to the person who turns on the television set," Clooney said.

Examples of journalists who do not follow this code of loyalty are almost always preceded by public rebellions and journalists with ruined careers.  This proves just how seriously loyalty to citizens is taken.

It is my belief that journalists for the most part realize that they work for the citizens they inform.  Without viewers and mutual trust, no one would watch, and their business would die.

"Journalism must reestablish the allegiance to citizens that the news industry has mistakenly helped to subvert.  Yet even this, ultimately, will not be enough.  Truth and loyalty to citizens are only the first two steps in making journalism work.  The next step is just as important: the method that journalists use to approach the truth and convey that method to citizens" (Kovach & Rosenstiel 75).

Journalists report the truth.

"Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.  On this there is absolute unanimity."  For a profession whose sole purpose is to find and report the truth, journalists are awfully distrusted by people today.  Journalists have a reputation as people who are only interested in themselves or money.  I must acknowledge that there are journalists in the US today whose ethics are questionable and who manipulate and twist facts because of competition and sensationalism.  I do believe there exists an erosion of journalistic ethics in some ways because of corporate or political agendas.  But I believe, more often than not, that journalists strive for truth.  And to them, truth and accuracy means everything.  

In class, I had the opportunity to listen to John Hughs, a Pulitzer prize winner and editor of the Christian Science Monitor and Deseret News.  He argued that the errors of few are used by critics to impune the reputation of journalists everywhere.

Journalists often go up against lawsuits and scandals in order to expose the truth. 

Watergate

In 1972, burglars were caught breaking into the Watergate hotel, Democratic Natl. Committee offices.  The investigative journalism of the Washington Post unearthed ties to Nixon's reelection campaign. Reporting and investigations lead to the resignation of the president and several of his advisers.  This was a triumph of investigative journalism.  Because of news gathered by the Post, public pressure forced Nixon to eventually resign.

Journalists are not perfect.  Truth is complicated especially in a world where perfect objectivity is impossible.  But I trust there are many journalists who work to assure that their facts are straight, their sources are valid, and transparent.

Journalists today do report the truth.  I do not, however, trust journalism blindly. I instead strive to be a citizen who is a consumer, devourer, and debunker of the media.  In a world where there are journalists who sacrifice ethics for self interests, perhaps this is the only solution.  

Journalism's purpose in my life

In the United States, The First Amendment gives us the freedom of the press. Because of this, we are allowed to express ourselves through publication and dissemination. We have access to an extraordinary amount of information through journalism daily. Journalism plays an extremely important role in my life that I often take for granted and may not fully comprehend.

"The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self governing."

Journalism today is one of the only ways I can receive trustworthy information in order to educate myself. Information is everywhere and often overwhelming. I rely on journalism to know what is going on in the world around me. I rely on it to understand what is happening politically. I rely on it to know whether I should wear a sweater to school or not. I admit that I do not always keep up with world events, and that talk about politics may confuse me, and even that I sometimes don't pack an umbrella when I should. Nevertheless, I absolutely need journalism in order to be a free and sovereign citizen.

We can see a common theme in oppressed countries today. Countries like North Korea, China, and Syria, all have government controlled and censored journalism and media. Their citizens are subject to propaganda constantly. They are unable to govern themselves because they do not have access to a free press. (Although I am not saying this is the only reason.)

"Journalism is so fundamental to the purpose of democracy that societies that want to suppress freedom must first suppress the press."

Journalism allows me to be a free and self-governing citizen. And that's a pretty big deal.

Not only this, but journalism inspires me to fight for freedom. It spreads the word and provides the truth, which is at the sole of freedom in the United States. Journalism makes me stop and think. It inspires me to be an active member of my community and to try to leave it a little better because I am a part of it.  

Journalism gives me a voice.

What it means to be a Journalist

A journalist is someone who gathers and presents news and information.  However, in today's world of insanely fast technology, quite literally anyone can do just that.  This can be seen on the hundreds of blogs (mine included), and social networking sites on the web.  But being a journalist is so much more than this.  A journalist does distribute information, but they are also responsible for presenting information that is objective, relevant, and truthful.  Journalists have the power to reach people and influence public opinion and they must do this with honesty and transparency.    

It is an understatement to say that many people dislike and distrust journalists.  And it is true that some journalists are dishonest and unethical.  But there are so many journalists who truly care about the people they represent and inform.  

Many journalists put their lives on the line so that people can know what is happening around them and even oceans away.  Citizens need this information to be sovereign, and journalists must supply it.  

This is a quotation from "The Elements of Journalism."  

“Perhaps in the end journalism simply means carrying on and amplifying the conversation of people themselves."  

It is my desire to set a standard for journalists by simply "carrying on and amplifying the conversation of people themselves."

http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102241/Restoring-a-Sense-of-What-It-Means-To-Be-a-Journalist.aspx