Gabrielle Albright
ga210814@ohio.edu
Something that all journalists employed at all publications- large and small must never lose sight of is the importance of the truth. Regardless of the personal benefits for the journalist or the publication, this profession owes it to society to provide them with important news.
On September 20th of this year, journalist Marty Baron received the highest journalism honor the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism bestows on a professional in the field.
What Did Marty Baron Do?
He is currently the executive editor at the Washington Post and was involved in one of the most groundbreaking investigative stories in recent history. The Priest of the Catholic church in Boston was caught and accused of molesting many children.
After this investigation went public, there was a movie called “Spotlight”, which further exploited this grave crime against so many children. Baron was present during this screening and reported that an elderly man had stood up and thanked the investigators of the crime and the producers of the movie. He said that he had been a victim of a crime similar and had never told a single soul about it.
Although he admitted that this movie was difficult for him to see, it probably helped him receive closure about what had happened to him, that he wasn't alone, and that people were finally paying attention to this horrific issue.
An art design for the "Spotlight" movie retrieved from IgniteNews.ca
Baron pointed out that this man’s words reminds him of what must stay constant in the field of journalism. “Journalism is in a period of upheaval. Much is changing. More will have to. But not everything should”, he said.
Principles That Journalists Must Always Uphold
One principle that he said should remain the same is journalist’s mission; “to tell the truth as nearly as the truth may be ascertained.” Along with this, he made a point to say that journalists should never target specific people or groups based on their own personal bias. As Baron said, “I did not decide to ‘go after’ the Catholic Church. I decided to go after a story. It was journalistic impulse.”
Although, when the begining of a story is found, journalists should dig with the a “kind of energy and determination” to be able to get to the bottom of the truth and be able to present it to the public fairly with accuracy, “honestly and honorably” and “without hesitation and without obfuscation”.
One Journalist Made a Difference
Baron noticed a column about a priest victimizing children, had further curiosity about the lawsuit and uncovered so much more. “The column detailed how the attorney for the survivors – those victimized by the priest – had asserted that the cardinal himself, Cardinal Bernard Law, knew about this priest’s repeated abuse and yet continued to reassign him from one parish to the next – notifying no one, not the parish priest and certainly not the parishioners, that a priest known to have committed sexual assaults would serve in ministry at their church.”
This one column read by one journalist was all it look to grab the attention of the entire world and to bring attention to a huge issue.
As journalists, we have the responsibility to grab people’s attention to the wrongs in the world. There is not a chance of stopping these injustices if the public is unaware.
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