What is journalism? Who is a journalist?

When I first entered this class, I said that journalism should be "an unbiased record of events."  I have found that my opinion has evolved.  Now I know so much more about journalism.  Transparency, verification, truth, ideologues, religion, objectivity, independence and so many other elements factor in to journalism.  It's not enough for a journalist to record events.  A journalist has to have a passion and a commitment to the truth.  This passion both defines journalism and journalists.  Anyone who has this passion, who tells the whole truth as unbiasedly as possible, who doesn't sensationalize for attention, can be a journalist.

Journalism is about truth.  Its first responsibility is to truth.  Journalists must be dedicated to the pursuit of it and it must fuel any news outlet.  There are so many other factors that contribute to journalism, but this is by far the most important.  Journalism protects the public by informing them.  Ultimately, journalism is a check on our society.  News outlets let public figures and the government know that every action they make will be brought into the public eye and that they will be held accountable.


I once said that journalism is a promise.  I still believe this.  Journalism is a promise to the public.  As a developing journalist, I want readers of my articles to know that I will deliver unbiased, impartial information to the best of my ability, and I want to have the trust of the public.  That's what journalism is.  It's an agreement between the public and journalists.  The public trusts us to bring them the news and to inform them and that is a responsibility that journalists need to take seriously.  It’s a lot of weight.  Journalism isn’t just a job and anyone who treats it or thinks of it that way isn’t a real journalist.  It’s about passion—a passion for the truth and a passion for what is happening in the world.  Staying informed is great, but it goes deeper than that.  Journalism requires dedication because you can’t be successful at it without complete commitment. 

So journalism is a promise.  Journalists are those with passion for the responsibility that comes with this field.  As a journalist, my first responsibility is to truth because through truth, I inform and protect people, and that’s not just a job.  That’s something I want to commit to.

Comprehensive and Proportional news is kind of important.

Certain stories get seriously hyped up in order to sell.  That's the problem with news today.  It's all about ratings.  News outlets care more about money than actually providing news.  That's all good and well because without money a news outlet can't function, but it does compromise the integrity of news itself.  The generation growing up now and becoming adults care much more about the latest celebrity scandal than uprisings in the Middle East.  It's not that there aren't people who care, it's just that when you walk into a grocery store, the industry knows that you're more likely to grab a magazine with a cover that blasts Teen Mom stars for getting plastic surgery than a cover that talks about an oil crisis.

As journalists, we have to try not to hype a story in order to get readers.  It is our responsibility to deliver news as it is as opposed to a hyped up version that will produce more dollars.  A good journalist doesn't have to hype up a story, but rather tries to deliver the hard facts of a story in an interesting and entertaining way.  It's hard to do and it's becoming a dying art, but I still firmly believe that this is the mark of a truly accomplished journalist.  A journalist should write or report on a story and be able to capture interest without hyping it up or cheapening it with misleading statements meant to sensationalize the story.

We need to focus on making our news comprehensive; there should not be one niche of stories reported on because of the dollars generated.  More money comes from celebrity stories, but that lets too much real news slip through the cracks.  News needs to be proportional.  It needs to meet many aspects of life and events in order to truly inform the public.  That's our job: inform the public.  Without proportionally and comprehensively covering all of these stories, we might as well just all be celebrity bloggers who never change out of our pajamas and dropped out of high school sophomore year.  It's important to report with integrity and part of that, I think, is reporting on stories that might not generate the most dollars simply because they are important to inform the public about.  Journalists have a responsibility to simply cut the hype as much as they can.

Engagement and Relevance in Journalism. This title is in no way engaging, but it's pretty relevant.

"When you're bored, you stop learning and communication fails." I think this is the truest statement I have ever heard.  This should be doctrine.  Can I say that?  Whatever.  It totally should.

Anyway, that quote doesn't just apply to people, but to the news. You have to have an entertainment factor or else no one will read articles or watch the news.  At the same time, you have to have stories that matter and are relevant.  Unfortunately, sensational and purely entertainment oriented news is becoming more and more prevalent in major news outlets. It's a shame, really, because a lot of news that ought to be reported on slips through the cracks so that the American public can learn how much Justin Bieber is SO IN LOVE with Selena Gomez. 

There are people who have scrutinized various news sources or reporters for sensational stories but I think that in general, the American public just likes to be entertained more that it likes to be informed.  That's a wide generalization, of course, but the sheer number of gossip columns and magazines attests to this.  Despite condemnation of entertainment journalism, it still thrives.

I think there definitely has to be a balance between entertainment an journalism but I also think that there's way too much sensationalism of news.  We talked in class about how some news outlets make a story appear to be way more interesting and relevant than it really is when advertising.  I think that's just an accepted part of journalism now but I also think that it proves that we need more informative reporting.