lf245706@ohio.edu
As just one of the many blogs that are being posted by OU's journalism ethics class on today's topic, I'm going to forego the route of arguing numbers back and forth on whether or not President Barack Obama was favored in the media during election season. I do this because I feel like similar statistics can be dug up in support of either side of the issue, and--at the end of the day--it seems that those who believe the media were fair and those who think they were not will still maintain their opinion by the time they go to sleep and wake up the next morning. Instead, I want to focus on another argument that reporters Douglas Mccollam and Michael Massing touched on in their articles, which is the bashing and fanaticism that exists in the media today.
As journalists, we have to protect our craft, that I know. If you were educated at a good journalism school—or, hell, even a bad one—one of the things that you must have learned is to behave professionally. With all the blogging and Twittering going on these days, it’s possible for everyone to get their point across to the world, and that’s great. However, blogs and tweets clearly aren’t monitored as scrupulously as articles in publications that serve several thousand readers daily, say The New York Times or Newsweek.
Our reporting needs to be unbiased, certainly. That is without question and it is a skill that I hope the media work on improving because most networks and publications have an obvious slant.
Like I said above, at the end of the day, I believe that for the most part on issues that people are passionate one way or the other about (abortion, affirmative action and, oh yeah, President Obama), they’ll maintain their opinions unless they're changed by some personal or learning experience. But, I believe along with unbiased reporting there needs to be more emphasis on decency and tact. Perhaps one of the reasons why pundits like Bill O’Reilly, Jon Stewart and Sean Hannity stand out so much is because they are the biggest and baddest kids on the media playground.
While these people may not claim to be political analysts or completely unbiased, it is still critical that they maintain respect for journalism because they are the ones getting the most attention. Ever wonder why people say “The media is evil”? I’m not talking about why they say the “media is” instead of the “media are”; blame that on the lack of grammar lessons in our education system. But back to the point—they’re not talking about John and Jane who write for the small-town, daily news publication. They’re talking about the figures that have the most exposure, the ones who get attention for the controversial and sometimes outlandish things they say, the ones who may forsake the craft for ratings and sales. These are also the ones who are accused of having biases and of being “evil.”
I’m not concerned with our fellow journalists’ political sway; like income and sexual orientation, that is strictly personal. And like income and sexual orientation, if you care to share that with the rest of the world then that’s ab-fab, too! But don’t push it upon others--as many bloggers are sure to mention in their posts, keep it unbiased. More so than that, don’t turn it into an opportunity to demean what you don’t agree with.
What is equally important is how journalists report to the public, pundit or not. It seems that not enough are doing so with the aforementioned qualities: tact, decency, professionalism. (And a host of others that I could probably spend paragraphs touching on.) For those who have big soap boxes from which they scream obnoxiously and without tact (ahem, Ann Coulter), it is frustrating to watch them turn once highly regarded forms of communication into spectator sports.
Being satirical and having a sense of humor with reporting is tolerable and even understandable. By all means, give personality to your reporting, as well. However, the constant attempts at defamation and reporting down-right lies are what I believe more people have a problem with. No amount of statistics can argue with that.
Ann Coulter explains why saying "faggot" is unoffensive
Bill O'Reilly explodes at guest Jeremy Glick, and later miscontrues statements
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