Katie Hendershot
kh679010@ohio.edu
Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel posed a question at the end
of the first chapter of their book, The Elements of Journalism: “Can
journalists sustain in the 21st century the purpose that forged it in
the three and a half centuries that came before?”
The entire first chapter searched for one answer: What is
the purpose of journalism? The authors found the purpose of journalism to be
“to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and
self-governing.” They focused on the theme of journalists serving the community
with a public service—to inform.
They dug deep into the very early stages of journalism and
searched for the meaning it held to citizens in those times and touched on the
inclusion of the freedom of the press in the Bill of Rights. Even in those
times, journalism had the main purpose of serving the community.
The authors present a concept that says that though
journalism is changing due to new forms of delivery, it still holds the very
same purpose that it always has—to give the public what it needs.
It’s important to stress that with evolving technology and
the way media has changed throughout history, now more than ever news is being
created and delivered at rapid rates and by anyone. However, the duty of the
journalist has not changed.
Though anyone with an Internet connection can break news
through social media, journalists are still tasked with the role of verifying
that information. Pressure is placed on journalists to be the first outlet to
break big news, but at what cost? So often news outlets will jump the gun and
produce stories based on false information, as was the case with the reported death of Joe Paterno, the former Penn State football coach. Many prominent news
organizations, including CBS Sports, reported Paterno’s death 12 hours before
his passing, based on unverified information.
With the public’s trust in journalism at dangerously low
levels, slip-ups like that only help to feed their suspicions. Even in the 21st century, when the way news is presented is
constantly changing, the very fundamentals of journalism must remain in tact.
Reporting accurately is crucial. News organizations are faced with making
ethical decisions about when to publish information whether or not it is
verified.
The authors didn’t downplay the changing world of journalism
in today’s world. In fact, they presented one idea that is particularly
important: “Every generation creates its own journalism.” This concept is
especially important for young journalists. What will our generation create? And
what has it already done?
Social media plays a major role in the scope of journalism
today. There is no doubt that social media connects the masses in a way that
they have not been able to perviously. In addition, it puts control in the
hands of citizens to contribute to the messages being passed around.
One theme the authors suggested in the first chapter is the
idea that journalism creates communities. Though the passing of news messages
is the job of journalists, social media can also be used to pass around
messages and, in some cases, help to create news, as was the case in the 2011
London riots. Twitter and Facebook both played a role, along with Blackberry
Messenger, in helping to fuel the news.
In that instance, those with technology were able to take videos and photos to post on the Internet during the riots.
Photo from theguardian.com Michael Bowles/Rex Features |
Our generation will determine where the presentation of news
goes next, and with technology at our fingertips we have endless opportunities.
Future journalists are faced with the task of weeding through the influences of
social media and other 21st century inventions and remaining ethical
through it all.
Though blogs and what has been deemed as “we media”
contribute to news, the authors of the book suggest that the ethical decisions
are still important, explaining that though some say otherwise, “the idea of
applying judgment to the news — of trying to decide what people need and want to
know to self-govern — is obsolete. On the contrary, they make the need all the greater.”
Journalists must fight through all of the content that
citizen journalists are posting and hold high standards for themselves and
their publications. They must give citizens the tools to make sound decisions
when digesting news and remain constant in providing good, accurate journalism.
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