Journalism wise, I've never had a more informative semester. I've been thrown into the world of broadcast journalism at full force and have loved every minute of it. Most importantly though, I've really come to find a definition of journalism and a definition of what a journalist really is (and the journalist I want to be). In this post I referenced Wikipedia and the views of journalism that it provides. While its important to point out what others believe journalism to be, I've found that having my own clear-cut definition is what really makes me become a better journalist.
One of my original big points of journalism was the fact that I believed journalists to have one main job, that being to supply the public with information needed to form their own opinions on certain topics or stories.
I still believe that to be true after everything I've learned. Each week I was able to add more to my list of things a journalist should acquire, and now I feel like I'm a professional with regards to my thoughts on journalism.
One of the first weeks we talked about truth in journalism. I feel like if any journalist follows this one principle, all of the others will follow. Its important to tell the truth to the public, as well as making sure we are true to ourselves. I've seen in the real world how journalists have failed because of failing to follow this one key principle, all for the incentive to get a "unique" story.
I loved the quote from the book that says, "And, as we will see, 'journalistic truth' is more than mere accuracy. Its a sorting out process that takes place between the initial story and the interaction among the public, newsmakers, and journalists...(it) is ultimately what sets journalism apart from all other forms of communication"(Kovach and Rosenstiel, 41).
This quote says it all. Truth in journalism is different than just regular truth. We are held to a higher standard and must show that in our work. Thats the job, verifying facts to be true.
We also talked about loyalty. A journalist must decide upfront where their true loyalties will lie, whether that be with the public or to an employer. After that lesson I decided that even though its a fine line, for me it will always be simple. I will stay loyal to an employer, as long as they allow me to stay loyal to the public. You can be loyal to both and be a great reporter by choosing to take stories your employer asks and by using that opportunity to let the public know everything they need to know about it to make their own opinions. That is what a journalist does.
The week we talked about the profession of journalism really helped to solidify the actually terms of being a journalist, at least for me. It was brought up that many people are considering themselves journalists when in reality, they have no education, no background, and just a blog that they write their opinions on as a forum for discussion. Using opinion is not what a journalist does. Its the complete opposite. With that being said, the profession of a journalist became clear to me. It is someone who is trained and educated to collect, display, and organize facts for the public to form an opinion. That is what makes journalism an actual profession.
I must say too that I felt lucky that I was able to present the topic of verification to the class. I really got to dig in deep to understand exactly what verifying means to journalists. It is essential in the job to gather facts, but not necessarily a "must" to verify them all. In fact, there are organizations that have "fact checkers" so that the journalist doesn't have to. A passionate journalist will verify their own facts. This guarantees that the information that will be provided, along with the journalist's name, will be true and accurate for readers. No true journalist would present information that had not been verified to the best of their ability, mostly in fear for their reputation and job if the facts were to be wrong.
Being independent was another good quality that was discussed. Being free from bias really will lead to producing the best stories and allowing everyone to understand more of the issue than the biases hidden within. While its important to have ideals and values as a journalist, having bias will lower credibility and ultimately form you into a more narrow minded reporter. Its essential to understand that at times we can't rid ourselves of our biases, but a true journalist will look past them to get to the facts and share the real story.
A journalist is investigative, but follows the code of ethics in deciding what to air or present. That means that while a reporter can go undercover, proper steps must be taken to ensure things are done in an ethical manner. Its a fine line as well, but it can be done. A journalist welcomes opinion and discussion but does not use that in writings or broadcastings.
For us of the LDS faith, faith in journalism becomes more prevalent. Its important to never fail from our faith, but to not let it get in the way of our opinions, just like our biases.
One of the biggest jobs of being a journalist is also learning how to make it comprehensive and relevant. Summarizing the important facts and making them relevant to what is being told is one of the challenges that needs to be faced more in this profession. We see a lot of filler stories and fluff to make a story longer or seem more important than it really is. thats not news, its boring.
Overall, I've greatly changed my opinions on what journalism is to me. I've been able to build a list of qualities that a true journalist needs to possess in order to be a great journalist. I'm not all of the way there, I'll admit. I'm still learning, but thankfully I'm in the right place. I saw changes in my reporting as the semester went on and realized that I was doing better at verifying my facts and keeping biases out of my reporting style. I realized, too, that I am very loyal to my "employer" right now, otherwise known as Brother Curtis and 11 News. I can easily open up more and find things that the students want to hear and need to hear. I've also noticed I've cut back on the "filler" stories and the fluff information in my writing. I only write the truth and choose to use relevant information instead of just things to fill up time. I've really developed this semester and have really grown to love my work. I'm becoming passionate about being a journalist and I know it can only get better from here. I think at times people tend to get lazy and choose to not follow the things and advice that we learned in this class. I've noticed that as I've followed these guidelines, my reporting has improved. My goal is to not get lazy and to strive to focus on the small things in journalism to make my work overall great, instead of just good.
