Do Journalists Truly Serve the Citizens?

Due to the vast number of journalists in the world, who all have different viewpoints, motivations, and goals, this is a difficult question to answer. I would say that the majority of journalists do indeed serve the citizens who see or read their work, but they are overshadowed by larger news outlets who may not do as well a job. Nowadays, the public is quite wary of cable news outlets, due to the percieved ideological agendas of these networks. Though it is unfair to say these outlets are representative of "journalists," they have the most prominent voice in many communities. And unfortunately, many of these newscasts practice what the Elements of Journalism book refers to as a "journalism of affirmation." Instead of serving the citizens and offering fair, factual news stories from which to form opinions, they take advantage of the audience's already-held convictions, so the audience can feel validated in their beliefs.

Overtly ideological headlines such as this leave little room for
the audience to interpret the facts on their own.

As we can see in this New York Times/CBS News poll, nearly 80 percent of Fox News viewers who are likely to vote say they will vote Republican. It is no secret that Fox tends to skew right in their ideology. Now, obviously Fox gained a lot of those voters because of its conservative message, but by continuing to serve stories spun to appeal to a far-right base, they are doing a disservice to their audience. The priority of news outlets should be reporting, with the task of interpreting those reports and forming ideologies from them remaining with the audience. If a news organization is so overt in its message that it's nearly impossible to form a dissenting opinion from the facts they present, then they are not serving the citizens, they're serving their business interests.

Do Journalists Report the Truth?

This is an interesting question, and I think it is one that has grown very complex in the world of modern media. Often the journalists who are seen on a mass scale (those whose work is found on the shows and newscasts of CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC) are criticized for reporting untruthful information. I don't think this judgment is necessarily fair. The vast majority of the times, these journalists are reporting the facts of what happened, but they are also interpreting those facts in a unique way, resulting in a form of "biased truth."

When a large news story breaks, multiple news outlets will all jump on the story. And while the information, facts, statistics, and so forth are the same for all outlets, the reports will often be quite different. One example is how MSNBC and Fox News reported on the decision in the Supreme Court case regarding Arizona's SB1070 immigration law. Fox chose to highlight how the court upheld parts of the law, thus trumpeting a victory for Arizona's conservative legislature. MSNBC highlighted the large portions of the law that were struck down, thus claiming victory for the Obama administration. So while the news was the same for both outlets, the difference was found in interpretation. So, mass journalism's biased truthfulness often isn't the "purest" form of truth, but it's truth nonetheless.

What Purpose Does Journalism Serve in My Life?

Journalism has served an enormous purpose in my life, and has influenced me to the point that it's a career path I want to pursue. I've always been interested in current events and issues, and as I've grown older, I've seen how essential to society information is. I think that if I ever were to have awareness of the news and issues withheld from me, I would feel much like John McCain, who said that as a POW he missed the news, and awareness of world events, more than anything else.

 

One of the specific influences I can see that journalism has had in my life is the work of Jon Krakauer. He took many of the stories he wrote for Outside magazine and turned them into longer works, and two of his books had profound influences on me. The books Into the Wild and Where

Men Win Glory, both stories highlighting extraordinary men and their actions, embody a type of journalism I think is very valuable. Human interest stories can have much more of an impact on the individual than broader stories on world issues, and while they are obviously less important to society, they are an important part of journalism.

What Is Journalism?

I believe that “journalism” is the act of gathering and disseminating information or news that one deems important and valuable. Because of this, I think that in today’s world, anyone who uses a mass communication medium (i.e. newspapers, blogs, forums, etc.) to report on news or other issues can be regarded as a journalist. However, this doesn’t mean everyone is a professional. There have been several court cases throughout the country in recent years which stemmed from bloggers, or other amateur journalists, claiming protection under “shield laws.” These laws were instituted to protect freedom of the press, but are now under scrutiny as technology evolves. Perhaps in the next few years, courts will catch up to the rapidly changing landscape of online journalism, and extend some protection to bloggers. But at this point in time, many courts are yet to do so.

So while I believe that anyone who wishes to report on news, current events, or social issues through blogs or independent websites can be regarded, to an extent, as a “journalist,” they have to acknowledge their amateurism. Despite this, I believe it’s important to give credit to these writers, because although they may not be professionals, ordinary people can have big things to say about society. The growth of this participatory attitude in online news media is a wonderful example of democracy in action, and should be encouraged.

Demonstrating the power of technology in modern news media, this iconic picture of a Russian child riding a bike during Russia's election protests was taken on an iPhone. Called "Moscow's Tiananmen Square" by many, the photo was widely circulated on Twitter by the reporter who took the photo, New Yorker magazine correspondent Julia Ioffe.