Humphrey Bogart was not a journalist, but his character in Deadline USA said that journalism is “not the oldest profession, but it’s the best.” As technological changes send—not ripples, but waves into the media world, statements like that become much more important. In the face of media consolidation, readership declines, and public mistrust, questions arise as to how journalism could ever be the best profession. Yet a journalist is an important person whose job meets a basic human need that is mandated by the Constitution and requires a skillful artist.
The press itself is a controversial issue, and everyone seems to have an opinion about how the media is ruining or saving (usually the former) America. It can be helpful to look at the facts of the case. First, humans need news. Anthropologists believe that people of all cultures “need news to . . . protect [them]selves, bond with each other, identify friends and enemies” (Kovach 2). These historians of human nature say that “journalism is simply the system societies generate to supply this news” (2).
A journalist has one of the few vocations in the private sector with a Constitutional stamp. The First Amendment is more than a way to catch up on the local gossip. The American press is expected to preserve democracy by being independent, truthful, and relevant. A journalist is not a common newsmonger, but a pencil-laden defender of liberty. A journalist’s first loyalty must be to the citizens, for they must have accurate, truthful information about the state of the union in order to make good decisions about government.
Truth, however, is a double-edged sword. It is a very difficult thing for mere mortal journalists to obtain. Therefore, two tools aid the journalist in the quest for truth. Objectivity is one of them. Although often misunderstood, objectivity is a practical method that can be used by journalists to accurately report the news. A journalist must aggressively pursue the facts as they are, not the facts that appeal to certain groups. This is one reason for the journalist’s Constitutionally-protected independence. An objective journalist finds golden nuggets of truth through the careful sifting of facts. Although truth often develops over time, objectivity is not an impossible ideal. It not the horizon pursued, but is the road upon which journalists run.
With our increasingly complex world, Journalists need a second tool for truthful reporting. Transparency is about trusting the public with one’s sources, ideas, and reasons for including certain news. The public will respect journalism far more if reporters are honest about what they know and why they believe it is important.
A journalist has a second responsibility to truth. Journalists do not enter the business with a desire to become cogs in an information machine; they hope to provide useful knowledge. A journalist must provide context for the news and clearly explain its importance. A journalist sometimes uses “spin” in order to make a story interesting and engage the public. However, the “spin” is actually unswerving loyalty to the citizens, not some other special-interest group.
Perhaps the reason so few democracies flourished before the U.S. is that, in the pre-print era, they had no one to act as a government “watchdog.” The watchdog role of the journalist has many names: investigative reporting, fourth estate, independent monitor of power, giving voice to the voiceless. One of my personal favorites is “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comforted.” Journalists have a responsibility to bring the plight of the downtrodden, the plots of the powerful, and the deceptions of the self-serving to the light of day. Journalists do not have to be world-weary cynics, but pragmatism and a healthy curiosity bordering on obsession are essential. A journalist, though necessarily independent, cares about the community’s welfare and wants to be a part of bringing public issues to the public.
A journalist’s first loyalty should be to the citizens, but the second is to the story. A love of writing, a passion for stories, an addiction to news—they all point to journalism’s role as a practical art form. A journalist’s love affair with the craft has more to do with who he or she is than what they are doing. A journalist couples the drive to figure out what is going on with an equally strong drive to share it. A journalist loves to listen to the stories of individuals, to be in the know. Problem-solving skills are essential during long battles with facts that must be fit together with gut feeling, common sense, and additional, carefully-verified facts.
Journalists love a challenge. They are independent, free-spirited beings who bring up odd topics and questions in social situations. They are always looking for reason why and the cause and effect relationship. Journalists have a certain ego, to be sure. They love being the ones to walk past the ring of light and see what is going on in the darkness. Long traipses through the woodlands of happenstance are worthwhile to the journalist in pursuit of a “eureka” moment. Barring the thrill of discovery, a journalist’s love of reading and writing brings joy to the effective communication of a story. A journalist’s love affair with words will motivate him or her to tell a story in a new and clearer way.
A journalist might be a little in love with the idea of being a journalist, might love the excitement of using tools like written communication, objectivity, and transparency to share a story. A journalist’s independence lets him or her love the community, too. A journalist is a fierce enemy to both injustice and deception and cannot shake the feeling that if the truth could just be exposed properly, things might get better. And although journalism may not be the “best profession,” it is the conscience of democracy.
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