Journalism is currently seen as a career for a person with an agenda. Journalism schools are seen as incubators for people who want to, and will be able to, change the world. That's not the way it should be.
Quick, what political party were Woodward & Bernstein? Sure, the temptation is to say they were Democrats, but are you sure? With regard to the modern breed of 'journalist' we seldom have any doubt about their politics.
So my remedy is: Every news story that has quotes from people has to end with the above question, or some variation thereof: "So who do you think is telling the truth?"
The goal being that the reader cannot determine whom the reporter believes is telling the truth. Wouldn't that be a refreshing change? Imagine stories about Global Climate Change where the you can't figure out what side of the issue the reporter is on!
Oh, sure, Fox News says, "We report, you decide," but most of us don't think they really mean it.
A super-duper Pulitzer Prize, platinum plated, would go to the journalist who wrote that year's most controversial story and who did the best job of giving no idea with whom he agreed.
By the way, the question is purely rhetorical; the reporters do not want you clogging their email in-boxes with your opinions. That's what blogs are for.
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3 comments:
I haven't seen/read a journalist in years. But if someone didn't give me their opinion I might have to think for myself. Then where would we all be?
Years and years ago it was common practice in newspapers to include a person's race in an article if that person was non-white. Such as, "Democratic Senator Barak Obama (negro) has declared his candidacy for president." This practice stopped, thankfully, but not before a prominent black newspaper started printing things like "Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson (white) has declared..."
Wouldn't it be nice if people would take the labels off political stuff, too, and instead label the reporter?
I haven't slept much lately. I hope that made sense.
Ms. Nibbles, there are forces currently at work on ending the divisive and dangerous practice of thinking for one's self. The argument at the present time is whether to do this by Executive Order, Supreme Court edict or Constitutional Amendment. The Pursuit of Happiness will then be easier for all of us, with the weight of 'decision making' removed from us.
Chris, I do remember those days. In high school, the weekly paper once did a story in which I was mentioned and it named me thusly:
"... and Bert Bananas (200m butterfly) was seen..." Naturally I was devastated because my best time was in the 1m breaststroke.
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