Crunch Time

Shamus Eaton
se297005@ohio.edu


I had the pleasure of watching the movie, 'The Paper', in class yesterday for the first time. I can't believe I had never seen this classic, but I suppose it is better late than never.

The Paper emphasizes a universal problem for all types of journalists, which at times, gets overlooked by today's media critics. Since the inception of journalism, reporters have all had to deal with one single pressure that will never go away. The deadline. The deadline, is what often times puts media ethics and criticism into overdrive.

Imagine a world where deadlines were non-existent. In this journalists' utopia, where every fact can be checked 100 times over and reporters can take a month to find that source who is just right, it seems like the ethical decision making process would be a bit easier. It is the deadline, that puts journalists into tight spots.

In each of our case studies, time is an issue. It is ever present, and without it, again there would be no worries. Hell, media companies could in theory poll their audiences and wait for feedback to see what is going to come off as ethical or not. In the real world though, the tough decisions are made under some of the tightest time frames, and often this haste is what leads to irrational decisions, or lack of oversight.

The ironic part of this cycle is that the consumers of news are the ones who make deadlines relevant. If it were not for the demand of the public for increasingly fast turnaround on news stories, there might be more time to preview packages and weigh the ethical nature of them. Then, when in this rush, a decision is made that offends someone or steps on someone's toes it is the same people who demand this speed and put this pressure cooker on the media that are the first to criticize.

It is extremely problematic, but it is the way of journalism. When considering case studies in the future, or possibly real life cases, I will always remember that perhaps the most relevant but overlooked external force is the deadline. He is king, and no matter what other factors are putting pressure on a media group, the deadline will never go away, or be satisfied if his interests are not met.