The definition of “truth” as defined by the Merriam- Webster dictionary is, “sincerity in action, character, and utterance.”
In journalism how is this definition to be applied? Does this definition seem ridiculously broad to anyone else other than me? What is sincerity in action, character and utterance? Where is the pure and simple objective truth and can it be found in Journalism? I don’t think it can.
No matter how scholarly one may consider them self it is impossible to escape all bias. We as people have a remarkable ability to think for ourselves, develop opinions, and rationalize our own definition of truth how ever we see fit. With this being the case what is truth?
I say that truth is subjective and is found neither in white or black realms but in the gray area in-between. Some arguments are stronger than others, facts are more accessible on one side of an argument, and many times there are multiple sides to a story, and so on. What are we to make of this complicated search for truth and objectivity we are seeking?
I suggest for the good of our minds and our personal sanity that we all simply look at the arguments present, collect all the facts that you can find and look toward the middle. Find out what is important to you and what carries more weight in your own personal scale of truth and find the balance.
I am sure it will rarely be completely in the white or completely in the black, but in some various shade in-between.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Interview with a young Journalist
Derek Stell got into Journalism through his high school journalism class where he ended up becoming the Editor-in-Chief of his high school paper. After Derek’s mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints he “came to BYU and decided to combine my love for sports with my need for (semi) gainful employment”. Derek got his break with an internship at the Daily Harold by simple luck. Derek was completing a writing assignment, waiting for spring football practice to end when he meet a young sports editor for the Harold, Jason Franchuk. Jason mentioned the Harold was looking for an intern to help cover high school sports. Jason got Derek in touch with sports editor Darnell Dickson who sadly did not have any opening at the moment but kept Derek in mind for any later openings.
Derek defines good journalism simply as good storytelling. “To tell a story well you have to understand and know the characters and events well.” Derek goes on to explain, “For sports, you have to know the number and represent the people well.” Derek feels that the Harold, as a whole, practices good journalism. “The Harold covers Utah County. It serves that community by telling its stories and helping people feel connected.”
When asked about recent movements in journalism such as, community, civic, citizen, and public journalism Derek does not like how “non-professionals” can determine the news. Derek explains, “I think civic journalism is when the paper doesn’t tell the reader what to think, but the readers tell the paper how to cover an issue. Why have educated professionals if they are going to be guided by armatures.”
Derek is the first to tell you that he has been affected buy the hardships papers are facing these days, he is finding it harder to find jobs and the earning potential is not what it used to be. Derek does however count himself lucky since he is a sports journalist, “sports is not as quickly affected by those things. People always are looking for sports news. Its value is higher.”
As for Derek’s advice for all those aspiring journalist out there, “Be prepared to not make a lot of money. Also make sure you have a lot of skills, don’t pigeon hole yourself.”
Derek defines good journalism simply as good storytelling. “To tell a story well you have to understand and know the characters and events well.” Derek goes on to explain, “For sports, you have to know the number and represent the people well.” Derek feels that the Harold, as a whole, practices good journalism. “The Harold covers Utah County. It serves that community by telling its stories and helping people feel connected.”
When asked about recent movements in journalism such as, community, civic, citizen, and public journalism Derek does not like how “non-professionals” can determine the news. Derek explains, “I think civic journalism is when the paper doesn’t tell the reader what to think, but the readers tell the paper how to cover an issue. Why have educated professionals if they are going to be guided by armatures.”
Derek is the first to tell you that he has been affected buy the hardships papers are facing these days, he is finding it harder to find jobs and the earning potential is not what it used to be. Derek does however count himself lucky since he is a sports journalist, “sports is not as quickly affected by those things. People always are looking for sports news. Its value is higher.”
As for Derek’s advice for all those aspiring journalist out there, “Be prepared to not make a lot of money. Also make sure you have a lot of skills, don’t pigeon hole yourself.”
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The Media... Objective or Bias?
Is the media objective or bias? Does the idea of balance distort the news? I guess it all depends on who you ask and who you are referring to. NPR’s Jeffery Durkin says readers want an opinion that is their own reflected back to them, when that does not happen people get angry. Durkin goes on to say that journalism, to keep clear of this anger, present two sides of the story and step back. “A lot of journalism tends to back off from drawing conclusion for fear of in sighting the wrath of the listener’s, viewers and readers, but I am not sure that the listeners viewers and readers are well served by that attitude.” Is this a service to the public? What if there are more than two sides to a story, what if one side of the story has more facts and is much stronger? Does this make a news station seem bias when they are simply reporting what they know from each side of an argument? When asked about reporting on both sides of the story Jeffery Durkin said this, “I get it from both sides… its really a case where people who are on the left say they are outraged when they hear a point of view from the right, and they of course accuse MPR of caving, what ever that means; and then people from the right saying I am hearing people from the left on NPR with just confirms my suspensions that NPR is bias to the left”. Whey has the public become so cenacle with the media? “ The public has less patience and trust in the media overall, and they often assume the worst of us they assume we have an agenda and we are going to flog our personal ideas and that they intuit that curtain reporters or host have a political view that they are subtly or not so subtly inflicting on the public. This is not the case on public radio but this is seen certainly on talk radio and public television,” says Duikin. It is easy to see what has made the public so cynical when it comes to the news coverage. You can look to networks such as MSNBC and Fox News and see an obvious bias, echoing the point of view their target audiences wants to hear.
Why can’t we just fix some of these bias networks and in turn slowly change the public view of the news? That sounds easy enough, right? Wrong, Brent Cunningham, Managing Editor at the Columbia Journalism Review says, “The question of balance is a lot more complicated and a lot more slippery than comes across in most debates.” The problem is objectivity and balance tends to be over simplified. Cunningham goes on to explain “Traditionally to be an objective journalist requires you to write a balanced story, my problem with that is that the world is not a balanced place.” One of the hardest challenges facing journalism today is “when journalist say “all we do is present facts” that is misleading” says Jay Rosen a Journalism Professor and director of the Project on Public Life and the Press at New York University. Rosen goes on to explain that “that view of "everybody else but us is highly partisan" is itself an artifact of the ideology or doctrine of objectivity.”
The point is objectivity is near impossible to define in journalism. Even if you think you as a journalist are being objective at times your subject matter does not allow you to do so. You may not have all the facts; you may not have enough information to adequately tell both sides of a story. Objectivity and truth is more often then not lingering in some gray area that no one is able to quite tap into.
Media in Business: Press; Fairness, bias and judgment: grappling with the knotty issue of objectivity in journalism.
William Glaberson; New York Times; December 12, 1994
Media: Talk of The Nations; NPR April 17th 2006 With Jeffery Durkin; “Balance vs. Bias in Journalism”
Why can’t we just fix some of these bias networks and in turn slowly change the public view of the news? That sounds easy enough, right? Wrong, Brent Cunningham, Managing Editor at the Columbia Journalism Review says, “The question of balance is a lot more complicated and a lot more slippery than comes across in most debates.” The problem is objectivity and balance tends to be over simplified. Cunningham goes on to explain “Traditionally to be an objective journalist requires you to write a balanced story, my problem with that is that the world is not a balanced place.” One of the hardest challenges facing journalism today is “when journalist say “all we do is present facts” that is misleading” says Jay Rosen a Journalism Professor and director of the Project on Public Life and the Press at New York University. Rosen goes on to explain that “that view of "everybody else but us is highly partisan" is itself an artifact of the ideology or doctrine of objectivity.”
The point is objectivity is near impossible to define in journalism. Even if you think you as a journalist are being objective at times your subject matter does not allow you to do so. You may not have all the facts; you may not have enough information to adequately tell both sides of a story. Objectivity and truth is more often then not lingering in some gray area that no one is able to quite tap into.
Media in Business: Press; Fairness, bias and judgment: grappling with the knotty issue of objectivity in journalism.
William Glaberson; New York Times; December 12, 1994
Media: Talk of The Nations; NPR April 17th 2006 With Jeffery Durkin; “Balance vs. Bias in Journalism”
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