Journalism, the World and the Future
Discussion of the future of journalism from GMU
Archive for Skills
I got my “Today in History” feed this morning and saw two things that jumped out at me:
Today, June 12, is the anniversary of:
- The murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1994, and
- The 1963 killing of Medgar Evers.
Now in the normal world — that world outside the shouting heads of cable news and the blogosphere — the killing of Evers and the issues around that killing are much more important. Yet, I will bet all the money in my pocket against all the money in your pocket that the anniversary people will talk about on the MSM and in the blogs is the Simpson killing.
Let’s compare the two.
Evers:
During World War II, Evers volunteered for the U.S. Army and participated in the Normandy invasion. In 1952, he joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As a field worker for the NAACP, Evers traveled through his home state encouraging poor African Americans to register to vote and recruiting them into the civil rights movement.
Simpson:
The case involves a famous former football player and a dream team of lawyers.
Yep, the Simpson case is so much more important. (Please note the sarcasm.)
Want a good discussion of journalism ethics?
Start with the questions raised by Michigan State Senator Bruce Patterson:
“What’s the definition of a reporter? I haven’t been able to find out? What’s a reporter? What’s a journalist?” Patterson said. “I thought you had to have a degree in journalism but apparently not. I could retire and be a journalist.”
The problem is that this “small government, less intrusive” Republican wants to scrap the First Amendment and license journalists.
Michigan Considers Law to License Journalists
Anytime the government takes the power to license who can be a journalist is the time when the government begins controlling the news. The governments that “pride” themselves on ensuring professional standards for journalists by requiring licenses to report — China, Cuba, Iran — are also those governments that are the most repressive.
Does this Michigan state senator really think that his proposal is constitutional? Actually, he does. And that means he needs to re-read the Constitution and the relevant Supreme Court rulings.
So how does one determine who is a good journalist?
There are some simple guidelines: Be fair. Be accurate. Provide context.
Anything else is window dressing. I know highly educated people who can’t do those three simple things. And many others with “lesser degrees” who excel at it.
So, journalism students: What are your responses to Patterson?
The other day I posted a couple of notes about the new Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism report on new and old media.
I saw in that two key issues that journalists and their bosses should be paying attention to.
- New media depends on old media — or at least good old fashioned journalism.
- People are interested in international news but are getting it from non-US sources.
Without good old fashioned journalism — multiple sources, checking facts, providing context — the news content of the Internet becomes opinion pieces instead of journalism.
The numbers speak for themselves. U.S. newspapers and broadcasts make up three-quarters of the items linked by American bloggers.
Web only generated material being passed on accounts for less than 1 percent.
So there is a value to professional journalism. The issue is finding a way to get paid for it. And that is what has to be addressed quickly.
On the other point — international news — the survey showed that foreign news — actual non-USA news items, rather than US foreign policy or military issues — was the second most blogged item. And yet people largely depended on non-US media outlets for this news.
There is an interest in news from other countries. Some of it frivolous. But most of it useful to understanding what is going on in the world.
The interconnection of local and global economies and societies no longer gives us the option of remaining isolated between two oceans. There are always local links in an international story and an international link to a local story. It just takes a reporter and editor with a view that extends beyond the city limits to see the connections.
There are always plenty of stories on campus for student journalists to cover. And a few of those stories can be pretty exciting. But they are still campus-centered and often have little impact beyond the campus.
And yet there are many campus organizations that deal with issues that are beyond the campus borders and even beyond our national borders. Maybe these groups will get a write up for a publicity campaign about this issue or that. And that is all well and good.
But why not look into some of the issues raised by these groups and see if there is a town-gown connection or even a larger global connection?
When people think about trafficking in persons (TIP), the most common view is most likely people tied to sweat shops or child prostitution. And usually the images are of this happening in some other country.
Sadly enough, trafficking takes place in the USA and it affects people on a very local level.
This morning I got a Tweet from Adam Savage (of Mythbusters fame. I am a follower. Wish I was a friend.) about a case in Washington, D.C., of two women obviously caught up in a trafficking situation.
(Here is my discussion at my personal blog site: Trafficking is a local and international issue
What struck me in the responses to the initial query was the number of places in the States designed to help people IN the States trapped in this practice.
I am sure there is a group on the Mason campus dedicated to helping people trapped in a trafficking situation. Maybe instead of just talking to the campus activists, the campus reporter could go out of his/her way and talk to some of the local groups in DC and NoVa also involved in the issue. I will bet that reporter will find that trafficking is not just something happening someplace else.
(Full disclosure: My wife spends a lot of time on this issue in her role as the #2 in the US embassy in Brazil. And she has directed the embassy staff to pay close attention to the issue.)
p.s. The issue is so important, that even the Armed Forces Network — the broadcaster service for the US military — runs PSAs educating members of the US military how to identify a trafficking situation and what to do about it.
The DC SPJ website (oops, almost wrote “web site”) has a new piece on events that changed the way we do journalism.
Well worth a read.
