Journalists Serving the Citizens

I believe that journalists truly do serve me as a citizen.  I feel that journalist work hard to report accurate information to present to the citizens.  When interviewing Todd Patton of KUER, I learned that he worked hard to get both sides of the story.  His beat is politics, and when reporting on politics it's important to give the citizens both sides of an issue or both opinions of the opposing parties.  This accurate information can educate the citizens and give them the freedom to make their own choice when voting.  






Josh Kearns is the director of journalism and public media campaign at Free Press.  Free Press is a nonprofit public interest organization.  In a recent article Josh states that journalism is based not on the idea that information is scarce but on the recognition that it is abundant.  Journalism is the service that taps that abundance in ways that empower citizens.  I agree with both Patton and Kearns.  I believe that journalism does empower the citizens.  Knowledge is power.  Without journalists working hard to provide the citizens with accurate knowledge then the citizens wouldn't have much power, if any at all.  I believe that Journalists really do serve me, and citizens all over, providing us with accurate information and knowledge.  


http://stearns.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/journalism-as-a-service-not-a-product/





    

Journalist Report the Truth

I believe that journalists for the most part do report the truth as they see it.  They do their best to report an event or issue as it is, at the time that they report it.  However for example after they report about an event or issue, more facts or information could possibly rise to the surface.  This can happen after they have already reported about it.  This doesn't take away from the facts that they already reported about, it just means that at the time the full story hadn't fully come out yet.  When reporting on a big event or issue, people want the story and the facts as soon as possible.  Journalists do their best to report the information as accurate and as timely as they can.  It's not their fault if a few days, weeks, months, or years later that more details, information, or facts come out about the event.   

"Journalists first obligation is to the truth."

In the book, The Elements of Journalism, Rosenstiel states, 

"The desire that information be truthful is elemental.  Since news is the material that people use to learn and think about the world beyond themselves, the most important quality is that it be usable and reliable.  Will it rain tomorrow?  Is there a traffic jam ahead?  Did my team win?  What did the president say?  Truthfulness creates, in effect, the sense of security that grows from awareness and is at the essence of news."


I think that it's important to have more than one source when reporting and to always double check your information.  I know that journalists can be bribed or persuaded to report things a certain way.  However, I believe that the majority of journalists first obligation is to the truth. 

From the Pew Research Center it's easy to see that the believability of News Organizations' has dropped by almost 20% in the last decade.  However, I don' think that this is because of journalists not reporting the truth.  I think this is because of controversy with 9/11 and the war on Terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.  I believe that the majority of journalists do report the truth.  

Kovach, Bill, and Tom Rosenstiel. The Elements of Journalism. New York City: Crown Publishers, 2007. 36-37. Print.

http://www.people-press.org/2012/08/16/further-decline-in-credibility-ratings-for-most-news-organizations/1/ 

The purpose of journalism in my life

Unless we experience and event or issue first hand we have no way of knowing what is going on in the world around us.  From my last post journalism is the reporting or investigation of events or issues.  For example If a student attended the BYU football game then they would have a first hand account of that experience.  However if they were not able to attend the game then they would have to find out about the result from a form of journalism.  They could watch the news on T.V. or check the sports section of the newspaper the next day.  How we find out what is giong on the world around us is all linked back to a form of journalism. 

I like William F. Woo's statement on journalism's purpose.  Woo is a professor of journalism at Stanford University.  He states, "the purpose of journalism is not doing journalism—any more than the purpose of surgery is cutting patients open and sewing them back together again. The skill of the knife is important but only so far as it serves the larger purpose of surgery: restoring patients to health and productivity.  Similarly, the skill of journalists—their ability to report and edit well—is necessary for journalism to serve its purpose, which I consider a public trust. 

William F. Woo

I like how he states that journalism's purpose goes deeper than just the act of reporting and ivestigating events and issues.  Journalist need to be able to report and edit well so that the public can get the accurate information about news and events.  Through journalism we we can stay connected with what is happening without actually being presently there.





http://www.uuworld.org/2004/06/bookshelf.html


 

What is Journalism and what does it mean to be a Journalist

According to Ask.com Journalism is the investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience about topics ranging from government and business organizations to cultural aspects of society such as arts and entertainment. The field includes editing, photojournalism, and documentary.  I don't have a lot of experience in Journalism.  However I've always enjoyed writing and I like to read articles.  I like to read articles about people and their experiences.  I am a people person and I'm excited to get into the field of journalism so that I can hopefully have the opportunity to interview people.  To me a journalism is finding out the real story and reporting it.  I feel that being honest in the field of Journalism is very important.




What does it mean to be a journalist?  I don't really know how to answer that question yet.  However I found some information about what qualifications are necessary to become a journalist.  As a journalist you will need a good appreciation of the English language, but more importantly you will need determination and enthusiasm for the role.  Most jobs, especially top journalism jobs are very sought after and no matter how many qualifications you may have, you will need to convince the editor that you are the right person for the job.  I also learned that you need to be perceptive which means that you need to ask the right questions at the right time.  You have to be able to write at the correct level for your audience.  You have to be determined to get the story at all costs and your information has to be accurate or else it could have legal implications.  

My previous major was Psychology, this is my first semester getting into journalism.  I know that I have a lot to learn but I'm excited to find out what it means to be a journalist in the future.      




http://www.ask.com/wiki/Journalism?
http://www.whatqualifications.com/WhatQualifications/Journalist