My students explore how people in power behave differently under the cloak of secrecy than they do out in the sunshine. We discuss how it is journalists' job to shine a spotlight into the dark and dusty corners where self-interest and obfuscation lurk and thrive.
We examine how the journalist's responsibility to call out questionable actions is often a thankless job that requires a tough shell and a firm ethical compass.
And this brings us to the second thing I teach in Intro to Journalism: the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics:
1) Seek the truth and report it.
2) Minimize harm.
3) Act independently.
4) Be accountable and transparent.
As I talk with young people about the noble, sometimes dangerous, often criticized role of the journalist, we focus on the essential characteristics of neutrality and balance in reporting. We talk openly about the need for journalists to accept criticism graciously, to be accountable when we make mistakes--but to refrain from allowing criticism to influence our core values of seeking and reporting truth.
In the age of the internet, everyone owns a "printing press," which allows anyone to "mass communicate" without necessarily adhering to the trusted standards that allow readers/viewers to depend on NEWS as unbiased and true. We see this on both ends of the political spectrum. But my job as an educator is to hold up the shining light of what good journalism is, does, and should be.
So I am on alert when the president repeatedly maligns journalists as "crooked," "failing," and "among the most dishonest human beings on earth." This administration's war against media seems intent not just on challenging the press, but on shredding its reputation, morale, and identity.
As a journalism teacher, I am called to defend my students, myself, and the profession of journalism as a whole. We need brave, ethical journalists now more than ever, but journalism teachers face the daunting task of persuading our best and brightest to join "the most dishonest human beings on earth."
It is the tradition of journalism to refrain from using our own platform to argue with our critics. Rather, we report the news objectively, we clearly label and confine opinion to specified roles in our publications, and we invite opposing views to be heard (hence the OP-ED page), rather than squelched.
Yet this tradition, when pitted against the onslaught of current press defamation, threatens to pave the way for a culture of weakened, muted journalism, where the bullhorn of those in power is all we'll hear. We need the public, our readers, to speak up on our behalf. #SpeakUpForJournalism #PayForQualityJournalism #ThankAJournalist #DontKickMe
