Morgan Boyle
mb082017@ohio.edu
Recently, in the media climate, especially in journalism, there has been constant concern regarding the age of information and its impact on sharing the news. To be sure, a more accessible platform has given rise to dangerous misinformation and conspiracy theories, fiercely partisan news outlets, and general overstimulation of media consumers as they are confronted with more media than humans have ever experienced before. However, these conditions are not perfect by any means and often can lead to frustration among journalists as they try to communicate their message effectively. While this frustration is entirely understandable, it can also be dangerous for journalism as the primary goal of journalists trends towards persuading their audience to see a particular point of view, even when the journalist considers the message objective. Therefore, it is essential to get back down to basics and understand journalism's role in society.
The authors discuss journalism in its essential nature in the first chapter of The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel. Every society known to man has some journalist- someone whose job is to gather information about their environment and share the knowledge and gossip with other members of their society. In Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind, he talks about the early establishment of human society and what set Homo sapiens apart from other members of the Homo genus. One of the most significant differences was the ability of a large group to cooperate via shared knowledge. For some time, influential human societies primarily existed in tribes of less than 150 people. As technology advanced, people realized that through a shared belief in society, including in government structures, and an effective communication system. Each member of society understood what was happening elsewhere within the organization; people could live and work together in groups much larger than the 150 person threshold.
So how can this inform journalism today? First, it is crucial to be mindful of that primary function of news: giving people information about society. As Tom Rosenstiel mentions in the video lecture, journalists can't and shouldn't try to control the audience's absorption and interpretation of the news. They also shouldn't include many opinions if possible. While it is true that the protection of democracy is fundamental to most journalists' mission in the modern world, as Margaret Sullivan pointed out in her Washington Post article from a few weeks ago, more information needs to reach the audience. Society has become increasingly complex. Journalists must provide information about what is happening in Washington D.C., the grumblings of conflict in Ukraine, scientists' findings regarding energy production or the environmental crisis, the merging of another set of corporate giants, shortcomings in the COVID-19 response, and so on. The people need to understand their environment and use that knowledge to inform their political identities and function in a democracy.
With complexity in the environment, the desire to control information and audience perception becomes greater and of much more danger. Journalists need to return humanity to journalism. Craig Silverman had an interesting article in Poynter almost a decade ago that is still relevant to journalism today. He mentions that accuracy, corrections, and objectivity are not necessarily core human values but are essential to ethical journalism. He says, "I found myself thinking more about humility, honesty, fairness, empathy, and vulnerability." These human values make journalism ethical, which also makes journalists trustworthy. There is a human connection in these values, and the audience will most certainly feel them. Journalists all too often are unable to explain why the public audience should trust them but are quick to defend their objectivity, code of ethics, and moral fiber. Through humility, empathy, and honesty, journalists could build back public trust, and a stronger connection to their audience is possible.
SOURCES:
https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2012/journalism-ethics-are-rooted-in-humanity-not-technology/
https://blackboard.ohio.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-12621470-dt-content-rid-110476178_1/xid-110476178_1
https://blackboard.ohio.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-12669042-dt-content-rid-111161842_1/xid-111161842_1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyPa3ccBo1Y
Harari, Yuval N. author. Sapiens : a Brief History of Humankind. New York :Harper, 2015.
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