Do You Believe Journalists Really Serve You?

I believe that journalists (for the most part) are doing the best that they can. I think they have little trust in their audience’s or my capacity to handle raw information—free of any sugarcoating. Journalists, as a common avenue for their industry, thrive on being liked, followed and pursued. Thus, journalists then develop this idea that to stay liked they must present the good news as great and the bad news as “not that bad”.

Yet, looking on the bright side and not narrowing my perception of modern-day journalism, I do believe that there are still journalists who committed long ago to sustain a morale of unprocessed honesty. It is these journalists that when I’m asked if I believe journalists serve me, the citizen, I declare a resounding, “Yes!”

Adolph Ochs, the past owner of the New York Times said, “Journalism's ultimate purpose [is] to inform the reader, to bring him each day a letter from home and never to permit the serving of special interests.” Ochs quote represents the many journalists who believe that first and foremost, their loyalty is to their citizens.

At the end of the day, journalists have no stories and no job if it isn’t for their citizens. Some journalists have indeed understood that the citizen is their finest customer and that the journalists’ best interest to serve that customer. 

http://www.searchquotes.com/quotation/Journalism%27s_ultimate_purpose_%5Bis%5D_to_inform_the_reader%2C_to_bring_him_each_day_a_letter_from_home_an/229595/

Do you believe journalists report the truth? Why or why not?

I do believe journalists should report the truth, and solely that. Unfortunately, journalists nowadays treat the public as children, where making the public happy or pleased is the only goal in mind. Saying the tough stuff and reporting the stories that the public will have a hard time swallowing is a rare occurrence in modern day journalism. Rather, water-downed stories, where the significant and painful details are softened around the edges seem to crop up on every broadcasts and news columns. Journalists are behaving as the stereotypical parents that are afraid of their children being unhappy with them, or just unhappy in general. This then drives the parent or journalist to sugarcoat things and avoid addressing the real situation at hand.

I feel like the purpose of journalism or the understanding of the purpose of journalism has become swayed overtime. It seems as though journalism is no longer trying to report news and provide the public with truth and information; rather, journalism has become a mode of offering the public what it wants to hear. This transformation of the fundamental understanding of the purpose of journalism has enhanced and increased the number of readers and viewers, yet diminished the amount of quality, hard-factual news—the tough medicine good parents and journalists realize is what children and the public actually need. The spoon-fed stories can only go so far as to please, yet the raw, unaltered stories update the public on what they need to know. 

http://journalism.about.com/od/ethicsprofessionalism/a/Should-Journalists-Be-Objective-Or-Tell-The-Truth.htm

What Purpose Does Journalism Serve in Your Life?

Journalism and I have a special kind of relationship. (for this blogpost and for all intents and purposes, we’ll refer to journalism as “he”)  I mean, I trust him, most of the time. I look to him for truth and facts, not opinions. I sometimes get frustrated because he doesn’t always live up to the purposes or fulfill the needs I have set for him. (Granted, these are not farfetched purposes or needs; rather, quite understandable and agreeable.) I just see his main purpose in my life to be one of honesty and consistency—it really bothers me when he starts to get all artificial, flaky, or even showy. I like him blunt and trusting, indicating that I like it when he trusts that I can handle what he has to say. Because let’s face it. His main purpose in my life is to keep me updated, involved and aware. I come to him for details because I trust that he has the credible ones. He’s quite the savvy guy and if I want to really know what’s going on, I turn to him. He connects me to things outside my circles and enables me to partake in substantial conversations with the stories and topics he provides me. Basically, he serves as my portal to information, individuals and news, and for that purpose, I keep him pretty close.

As you can see, journalism serves many purposes in my life. In fact, journalism does so much for me that I found it quite necessary to even give journalism a pronoun in which we formed a symbiotic relationship—how swell. 

http://www.timporter.com/firstdraft/archives/000479.html

What is Journalism?

I believe journalism to be a matter of truth, an outlet of fact. A journalist is the middle man between whatever is newsworthy and whoever is interested in that thing. Journalism allows the average joe to have an understanding of things outside of his or her own circles. Journalism expands the mind of the simple-minded, and closes the gaps between different social groups. Journalism adds to the unity of a nation and world as stories from small towns become spread across borders and oceans.

This image perfectly depicts what I believe to be journalism. Many hands do pen and many voices do declare the news that enables any citizen to become a part of something bigger—something global, something impactful. Journalism provides news, and news is information. Information empowers an individual more than almost anything else can. Journalism provides facts and engages the reader on foundations of trust and truth. A relationship is built and truth is allowed to remain pure.

The journalism I have been describing is the journalism that I have faith that still exists. This is the journalism founded upon fact and accuracy, rather than being tainted or swayed by personal opinion or in any attempt to please someone. I believe in the journalism that is raw as evidenced by organic details and wherein it is founded upon truth, and truth only.  

http://journalism.utexas.edu/sites/journalism.utexas.edu/files/attachments/reese/journalism-globalization.pdf