Who Is Considered A Journalist?

Samantha Harrington

sh776511@ohio.edu

Living in America, I am thankful for many reasons. I am given the opportunity to flourish and become who I want to be. More specifically, reaching my full potential as a successful and ethical journalist.

Anyone in the journalism field has big shoes to fill, and our words are looked at closely through a magnifier by the eyes of the public. Anything we say or publish in a blog, magazine, newspaper, on television, etc, will be taken and translated in many different ways according to many different views. It’s like a marriage with the public. For better or for worse, we’re always there trying to do our jobs to let the public know what is going on around them while they live their everyday, seemingly ordinary lives.

                                                                               Photo Credit: Squidoo

But where do we draw the line of what is fair to report on a certain issue that could cause havoc in our country? Is reporting a top secret government issue crossing the ethical line? Or should we report it because it’s our job to continue keeping the public’s trust with the classified information we have? These are just a few of the many questions we as journalists have to ask ourselves everyday when handed this kind of information. 

The WikiLeaks scandal is a perfect example of what a journalist should and shouldn’t do. Unfortunately in this situation, it depends on who you talk to if Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, is even considered a journalist. The government disapproves of Assange’s decision to publish the information. On the other hand, there are those, like Benedict Cumberbatch, who view Assange as a hero. His decision to publish changed his life, the world and what is considered to be journalism, forever. 

The United States First Amendment includes freedom of speech. So from a constitutional perspective, Assange took advantage of his right. However, there are many controversies regarding Assange’s role and real-world job. This causes an untangled ball of disputation on what a journalist should and shouldn’t do in order to remain ethical. But, if Assange technically isn’t a journalist, does it matter if he’s ethical or not? 

I googled how this scandal was viewed by the panel of legal specialists Msnbc.com put together. Paul Rosenzwig, of the Heritage Foundation and a former Homeland Security official, is a firm believer that Assange “is not a journalist and WikiLeaks is not a news organization.”

“News organizations pride themselves on adding value to news — they analyze and provide context. WikiLeaks does none of that. It’s more like a telephone directory — just a compiler of information, not a discriminating purveyor — and it demeans real news organizations to make the comparison,” said Rosenzwig.

But what is considered news in this new tech savvy era? News organizations nowadays includes blogging. This is where more controversial arguments come in. 

Whether or not blogs, that are like WikiLeaks, will be allowed to report top secret information will remain questionable, as bloggers voice their opinions everyday. It’s a sticky situation once a blogger posts actual documentation, but what is considered ethical or not when the person isn’t named a journalist remains unknown.