sg109008@ohio.edu
After reading Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel's chapters from The Elements of Journalism, it brought to mind a few questions. Questions like:
Am I really in the right major? If print journalism is dead, why are there so many students majoring in it? Will I find a job that I love? How can some journalists be so successful and others such complete and utter failures?
As a journalism student in an ethics class, I often question what I write, how I write it and how many people are going to see it. One often hears phrases like: "Don't put anything questionable on social media, you'll never get a job!"
While I agree with the premise, I'm not so sure about the conclusion. While I understand that no employer wants to hire someone who is lazy, self-serving, hateful or just downright ignorant, I find it interesting that I often censor what I say in a land of freedom of speech for fear of the repercussions of those words.
What happens when someone says or does something that the public looks down upon? Society shuns them. Just look at Miley Cyrus. Evidently she has a "message for the haters."
"We're over-thinking it," she said.
But in a society so hell-bent on criticism, how can I as a journalist be successful, write things that people wish to read, and yet remain ethical in my writing as to not offend anyone?
I have a strong opinion about tabloid journalism and pretty much anything related to the Kardashians. It's uninteresting, irritating and often times downright disgusting to see some of the things that are trending in pop-culture. How can one spend so much time watching Keeping up with the Kardashians or Real Housewives of _________ without wanting to rip his/her hair out?
Yet, this type of media is attractive to a certain audience, and therefore has a place in journalism. While I disagree with the fact that a VERY post-Disney Miley Cyrus grinding on Robin Thicke should be front page news on CNN.com, I can't knock editors for wanting to publish what people are currently interested in.
If it gets them traffic, why not?
Is this ethical? Is it right to exploit people for the sake of a story? Sometimes celebrities and other public figures don't like to be caught on camera.
Today I wanted to Google why society hates journalists and journalism. I came to find out they don't hate us as people, they hate what we write.
Evidently journalists have a problem with keeping certain truths from their writing. Sometimes we feel that society can't handle certain details so we merely skim over or leave them out all together. Society finds this dishonest, and while I can't disagree with them, are people truly prepared to see completely uncensored, raw and uncut journalism in either print or media form?
The answer is absolutely not.
Do you all remember the backlash from the Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson Superbowl performance?
HOW OUTRAGEOUS! HOW COULD THE SUPER BOWL LET SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPEN!? HER BODY WAS EXPOSED!
But in a world of Ke$has, Lady Gagas, Fergies and Playboy, was something like this really that unexpected? Of course not.
I find it interesting and somewhat disturbing that the same people who can be so obsessed with a reality TV show in all of its fake, glorified celebrity glitter, can turn around and persecute people like Miley Cyrus for simply doing their own thing.
We as journalists must cover all aspects of "news" no matter how obscure or uninteresting it may seem. When something controversial happens, it is our duty to inform the public. Which is what a large portion of the chapters I read had to do with.
Journalism is meant to inform. Sometimes we, the public, don't like hearing the truth. Too bad. Sometimes the truth hurts. Try living in a place like North Korea where everything is censored and people didn't even have smart phones until this year (and only progressed this far with the government's approval of the phones).
We must take every ethical approach to inform the public about what they wish to see, and then usually, the things they don't wish to see. In the end it's all the same. It's a journalist's job to make sure people get the story. Sometimes those stories are pushed too early and without enough details, and I feel like this is why many don't trust journalists. They fear the "lies" that might come with providing a story.
While I always try to be truthful in the things I say, and more importantly the things I write down, I can understand how people can get the wrong impression and I can see why journalism gets a bad rap. Not all of us are the best at what we do.
All I can do (in the wise words of David Spade's Joe Dirt) is "keep on keeping on." As long as I hold true to my ethics and values, I am confident I can inform people of what they want to see or read, and I can be completely truthful while doing so.
Journalism is not dead. It's alive and well, you just have to find the journalists that aren't all crooked liars just looking for a story no matter what the cost. Fortunately, I feel as though there are a lot more of us out there just trying to make an ethical, honest living, rather than ruin the lives of anyone and everyone we come into contact with.
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