First Blogging Assignment: Commenting on "The Journalist's Creed"
Think carefully about the state of the world in 2017 and the role of the news. In a COMMENT on this post, explain what aspects of this creed are still essential in today's journalism OR add to the creed to update it to the 21st century (remember that it was written over 100 years ago). Make sure you explain why Walter Williams' beliefs are still relevant or why something new must be added.
It's important that you read through your classmates' ideas before posting. You can agree or disagree with previous comments as well as build off of them as you develop this digital conversation. You shouldn't all be posting in isolation.
I think all aspects of this creed are important and relevant today, in particular that the suppression of news is unacceptable. The current administration in the White House has been accused of suppressing journalists by limiting the number of briefings, intimidating reporters who question them, and choosing to take questions from reporters who are considered friendly to them.Throughout history journalists asking tough questions of those in power have helped strengthen our democracy. Another important element of the creed is that journalists have the responsibility to report the unbiased truth in order to hold the public's trust. Currently there are many journalists, especially on TV, who are biased entertainers rather than true journalists and they are responsible for spreading more misinformation than actual facts.
ReplyDelete"biased entertainers" this is such an awesome and accurate phrase Juliana!!
DeleteI believe that most of this creed is accurate, and these are the rules that should be followed, but it doesn't work that way in the 21st century. Today I feel like journalists are just trying to get the most publicity or generate the most talk regardless to what it does to the public. I don't believe that all pieces of journalism honor man as you see more and more things in the news every single day that is trying to attack man rather than honor them. I feel like journalists today are focusing on giving the people what they are interested in rather than what is good for society. Because how often today do we have stories that tear man down rather than build him up? I agree with what Juliana said earlier about how a lot of journalists being biased entertainers, and I think that has influenced how journalists act and also what they decide to report in general. So in conclusion I think that this creed is accurate, and these are rules that journalists should follow, but few journalists truly do. Journalists today are more interested in the reviews of their reports rather than the integrity of it
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nick, the creed is accurate to what journalist should strive for; however, there are few who follow this creed. Mostly there are journalists who attack people and bend information to heir opinions. Journalists now write gossip columns and even the real news about politics and what is going on in the world is heavily opinionated by their political views. I also agree with Juliana about the relevance of the creed when it comes to what the white house is doing under the current administration. The journalists are the ones providing information to keep the public informed. These journalists for the most part do not follow the creed, they are reporting only the information that is entertaining and aligns with their beliefs. If journalists were concerned more with the truth rather than lining their pockets the information would be more reliable.
ReplyDeleteI also think that all aspects of this creed are relevant and valid to journalism today. I agree with Julianna about how many journalists on TV are biased and serve more of entertainers than actual reporters, which is very misleading and ultimately dangerous. As reporters, in my opinion, the most important thing to do is to deliver fair informations of what's happening out there in the world to the general public who do not have as much access to those informations as reporters do. But I do not think that it is the reporters' job to interpret those informations for the people as that will deprive the people of making their own judgements. It is like brainwashing, feeding the readers with thoughts of the reporters, which is not helpful. And if the reporters try to deliver their news in the form of entertainment, then the public will perceive news-- actual events occurring in the world-- as merely a kind of amusement, which will not only be an insult to something as serious as journalism, but also make people feel numb towards the world around them. And I think this kind of numbness is what made a lot of tyrannies possible in history. Journalism is not meant to amuse, but rather to inform, with honesty and respect.
ReplyDelete"Journalism is not meant to amuse, but rather to inform, with honesty and respect." *insert clapping hands emoji*
DeleteI believe that all standards set by the creed are relevant to today’s journalism, especially those referring to journalism as a “public trust”, a service to the people. The idea of a completely unbiased journalism is virtually impossible in the present day–Juliana’s description of reporters as “biased entertainers” is extremely accurate. In a world where individual’s can “curate” their news to a point where they not only decide where they retrieve their news from but what kind of news they receive at all, bias isn’t just inescapable, it’s chosen and sought-out. The very phrase “their/your news” is a testimony to this fact.
ReplyDeleteA part of the creed that has been phased-out from mainstream modern journalism is journalism spurred by moral conviction, sharing stories about what they “hold dear to their hearts”. Because a journalist is a part of a larger company with an identity (e.g. Fox News being associated with the right-wing’s voice, MSNBC its polar opposite) and the fact that while a journalist may enter their profession because of passion, it is still just that, a profession, stories “from the heart” are hard to come by. I think it’s for the best–in the spirit of journalism being a public trust, a reporter’s personal interests and passion projects must fall behind world news. Journalists have a duty to share what is relevant to the people, and a journalists’s personal interests may conflict/be completely unrelated to this information. This also mandates the question, who exactly is the people? And is a politically-biased journalist or new station still fulfilling their duty as a public trust by catering what stories they share to a certain demographic and ignoring others?
Juanita brings up a good point- if a reporter's job is to write information for the public, is the 'public' just the demographic the news source caters to, or anyone who might read the article? The main focus of the Creed is making the truth about events available to everyone (the public). When a newspaper is publishing a story with a certain opinion, they are usually showing events from a certain perspective. The trouble is that when you have a perspective opposite to someone else's, it's impossible to see what they're seeing. In my opinion, overly opinionated news is can lead to less than ideal levels of, as the Creed puts it, 'clear statement, accuracy, and fairness'. While it is satisfying to watch/read/listen to journalists or other news sources who absolutely agree with you, it can also make the consumer develop a very closed mind. This makes it difficult for any news differing with the opinion of the consumer to regarded as true. Just think of any controversial event and imagine the news stories from news sources on opposites sides of the political spectrum. The readers would likely end up with very differed opinions and both sides would likely miss out on some of the truth of the event, meaning opinionated journalism possibly conflicts with the Creed. Is there a difference between biased and opinionated journalism, though?
ReplyDeleteI do think that the entirety of this creed is essential in journalism today. These beliefs are still very relevant, saying that journalism is more of a public service than anything. A way to inform the public about news and to better society. Any sort of biased news source is more of a disservice to journalism and should represent any side truthfully. I do like the part where he states that a journalist should only write what truly comes from his heart. Although this could contradict the un-biased part of the creed, it is important that a journalists writing has some sort of personality or else lots of articles would be very boring to read. As long as the heart isn't overly biased to one side, to the point where you are completely misrepresenting someone or something, it is ok. The main reason why biased media is kind of accepted in todays society is because most of the time, there's an outlet to biased toward each side, so depending on what your beliefs are, you can just watch or read whatever outlet suits you. Although this makes for a lot of people who really don't understand the opposing side and only have seen their side glorified, it's what people want to hear and that's why it's accepted.
ReplyDeleteBeing ‘biased’ when it comes to journalism is inevitable. As Juanita previously stated “The very phrase “their/your news” is a testimony to this fact.”, because people read the stories that they want to read. While it would seem to be a news station’s responsibility to report both sides of the political spectrum objectively, that is not the case. Because news today is so accessible news organisations feel the need to emphasize their side of the story to attract viewers. A large percent of current day journalists do not follow the Creed and alter the information to be able to report their opinion. Journalists report on what the readers want to hear rather than the facts. This reader-writer relationship creates a sense of loyalty giving the different journalists an audience. Adding on to Juliana’s White House example, the White House is attempting to limit press access so that the President can hear what he wants to hear, rather than the facts.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nick when he states that the creed explains what a journalist should be, this creed should be the backbone of every article. To refer to Juanita's comment, “The very phrase “their/your news” is a testimony to this fact.”, simply due to society reading what they want to hear. Journalists today are much more biased and write to show their point of view, rather than to inform, this then deprives society of creating their own opinions because the only sides we are informed of are those who are writing the articles. Biased journalism is not only a disservice to our society but also to journalism itself. I agree with Jamie when he explains how being biased in Journalism is inevitable, but you as a professional writer should learn how to hide that opinion and just inform the public. After all that is what journalism is, to inform others who can't obtain certain information.
ReplyDelete