Loyalty and Journalism

In class, we discussed the fine line journalists must walk between pleasing their shareholders and being loyal to citizens. We discussed how a journalist must be loyal to citizens, but must also uphold their credibility as a reporter. I think that journalists should do their research to find the truth and report it, but I don’t think they should dishonestly or immorally dig up information to find the whole truth. Journalists should be loyal to citizens by giving them the truth in the best way they know how, but they should also be loyal to citizens by respecting them and their privacy. I think, for example, criminals should be exposed for their crimes, but it would be best that many of the things that happened in the past for normal citizens were left forgotten as they are now. I think many times when a reporter goes digging for information, it is not worth finding the truth to disgrace someone or act without integrity.

                I also understand that journalism is a business, and journalists have to do their job of reporting what goes on in the world. However, a corporation or the owner of a company should be committed to citizens (their customers) first. I don’t think journalists should have to compromise between pleasing their boss and reporting the news. The owner of a company should believe in core journalistic values. The problems some journalists must have about where their loyalties lie arise when their bosses don’t believe in the values of journalism. We discussed how The New York Times regularly turns away advertisements when important events happen that require a larger space in the paper for the news. The Times still makes plenty of money from advertising, but they also find a balance of reporting the right amount of news and information for citizens to receive.

                Journalism is about being a good storyteller. Even if a reporter’s loyalties lie elsewhere, they still have the ability to write an objective story that they don’t believe in or don’t agree with. If the quality of a journalist’s writing or effort goes down because he or she doesn’t believe in something, than he or she is not practicing the core values of journalism – reporting the news as it happens, without a bias.

A Pledge of Loyalty to Journalism:

http://www.creators.com/opinion/norman-solomon/a-pledge-of-loyalty-to-journalism.html

Journalism’s First Loyalty is to Citizens:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonianopinion/2008/01/sandra_duffy_journalisms_first.html

The Changing Problem of a Journalist’s Loyalty:

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0612/the-changing-problem-of-a-journalist-s-loyalty.html