mm027214@ohio.edu
On September 12 PBS NewsHour anchor, Judy Woodruff, came to Ohio University to accept an award. In her speech she touched on a plethora of topics that dealt with the current news media and how to deal with the lack of trust journalists face today.
The Duke University graduate first addressed how important the institution of free press and diversity in the newsroom really is. She says, "Journalists should look like this country therefore, being diverse and being committed to that diversity." I completely agree with this because if there isn't a range of views and races that appear on the news then people are really only hearing one side of the story. Also, a lack of diversity could discourage minorities from becoming involved in the journalism field because they feel unrepresented and discriminated against.
Woodruff went on to state how in this day and age there is a lot to report on because nothing is conventional in today's government. As a political broadcaster she said that she has interviewed many past presidents during her career and they've all said that there is no way to prepare for the job because there is too much they don't know until they get there.
This is completely true because politics in itself contains varying opinions and specific political behaviors. Each president has truly been different in their own way and none have shared the same viewpoints on every point. This is what is so tricky about being a political journalist these days because everything is always changing. Not to mention all of the fake news that hyper-partisan parties and websites put out there.
Woodruff brought up Hilary Clinton's new book, "What Happened?" concerning the 2016 election. She went into how so many news outlets anticipated Hilary to win that Clinton hadn't even planned a concession speech. So we ask the question: How did we get it so wrong? An article written by Politico points at the polling system. It says that many surveys had under-sampled non-college-educated whites, there were hidden Trump supporters that lied to the pollsters, or the media were just in denial and didn't want to admit that the numbers were close. In any case, this sort of unreliable journalism cannot happen.
The PBS NewsHour anchor garnered quite the applause when she said, "We need journalists today more than we've ever needed them in the past." She explained how journalists cannot be discouraged. We must plan to do our job and go into every story with an open mind. Woodruff goes on to say that we need to realize that we don't know everything and should admit when we make a mistake.
I agree with her on this point because it is that honesty and transparency that is going to increase the trust people have in the media. While, journalists should admit to their errors, they should also work to not make any. This can come through simply fact-checking their work and making sure they have several reliable and credible sources.
She does make a very good point that while technology has given news the space to explore what's going on, it has also opened up more possibilities for mistakes. Because of this we need to stick to the facts and what we know as well as identifying sources and holding them accountable.
Overall, hearing from Judy Woodruff was an exceptional experience because with her came honesty and wisdom. I think journalists around the world could learn a lot from what she had to say. While it is not news that the two political parties are currently as divided as they've ever been, I think with a large dose of good journalism we could combat this pessimistic attitude our society has taken on.
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