Last week's topic was one of great common sense. If we look into the world of the citizen, what do we want to know? Anyone? Anyone? Wait...I think I hear it, truth!
We, as a public, want to hear truth. We want the facts. There is a lot of distrust for the news person in these days. Could it possibly be because we hear so many untrustworthy stories that we don't know where to turn for the truth anymore? (That's a question for you to answer in the comments below)A great point was brought up in the class discussion, "Journalists provide information for public discussion, not the discussion itself." Can I get an amen on that?
If I have not been clear, allow me to clarify. Every story that is written needs to be verified to qualify as journalism worthy of the people who will be reading it. Without the verification, it just goes out as another rumor, spread by a paid writer. (or unpaid, as the case may be.)
When a story is verified, it follows the basic principle of having a witness to back up the facts. We all feel a lot better when there is more than one source reporting the facts. That is why we need to interview lots of people to get multiple accounts of events.
Sorry this isn't very insightful or deep. I suppose I just see this as a common sense topic. So how about we discuss this further together?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Where loyalty lies
Now...I technically don't have to write a post about this week's discussion but I find the topic fascinating so you're going to get my thoughts all the same.
The topic for this week is the loyalty of the news. Just who are we trying to serve here? Well let me tell you. The purest form of journalism and news reporting should be aimed at serving one group, the public. Reporting of the news is a free public service. With that comes a small profit, sure, but it also brings service to the community in which we live. If you haven't noticed from past posts, you know I'm a big community girl. This is my bias. I'm all for the local news and sharing of a neighbor's accomplishments. Maybe that comes from spending the crucial teenage years of my life in a small town, I don't know but thus it is.
A journalist's loyalty is to the citizen. So what happens when the citizen moves his/her gaze to a different medium to gain news? Do we tell them they have to stick to the old way of doing things? No! We roll with the punches. Professor Campbell brought up a good point that news has practically come full circle in it's history. It started with stories told in pubs and street corners. From there, it grew to be a biased business with strong citizen loyalties running beneath the surface. Now it's coming back to the people via electronic meeting places. Think about that for a moment, where do you get your news? Do you usually check the paper first? I know, for me, I check my Facebook first. Links, videos, or just a wall post usually tells me everything I really want to know. Then I'll peruse the headlines of a paper to see what else I missed in the outside world. It's like gleaning information from a giant bulletin board!
Now comes the question for us, the future journalists. What are we going to do about this change in forum? Are we going to stick to the newspaper/television, telling people what to think about? Are we going to listen and record? Well I can tell you what I'm going to do...for now. I'm going to report what I see. It will be the world through my eyes. That is the best I can do right now. I'll report it wherever I can! That way, everyone gets a chance to see it. There, you've heard my soapbox speech. I can come down now.
Until next time!
The topic for this week is the loyalty of the news. Just who are we trying to serve here? Well let me tell you. The purest form of journalism and news reporting should be aimed at serving one group, the public. Reporting of the news is a free public service. With that comes a small profit, sure, but it also brings service to the community in which we live. If you haven't noticed from past posts, you know I'm a big community girl. This is my bias. I'm all for the local news and sharing of a neighbor's accomplishments. Maybe that comes from spending the crucial teenage years of my life in a small town, I don't know but thus it is.
A journalist's loyalty is to the citizen. So what happens when the citizen moves his/her gaze to a different medium to gain news? Do we tell them they have to stick to the old way of doing things? No! We roll with the punches. Professor Campbell brought up a good point that news has practically come full circle in it's history. It started with stories told in pubs and street corners. From there, it grew to be a biased business with strong citizen loyalties running beneath the surface. Now it's coming back to the people via electronic meeting places. Think about that for a moment, where do you get your news? Do you usually check the paper first? I know, for me, I check my Facebook first. Links, videos, or just a wall post usually tells me everything I really want to know. Then I'll peruse the headlines of a paper to see what else I missed in the outside world. It's like gleaning information from a giant bulletin board!
Now comes the question for us, the future journalists. What are we going to do about this change in forum? Are we going to stick to the newspaper/television, telling people what to think about? Are we going to listen and record? Well I can tell you what I'm going to do...for now. I'm going to report what I see. It will be the world through my eyes. That is the best I can do right now. I'll report it wherever I can! That way, everyone gets a chance to see it. There, you've heard my soapbox speech. I can come down now.
Until next time!
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