One of those always-debated ethics questions

The recent posts about bumper stickers raise an aspect of the frequently debated (at least every four years) question of can you be a journalist and a civilian, too.

This Sept. 25 article by John Temple, editor of the Rocky Mountain News lays out the debate pretty well with a lucid explanation of why Temple comes down on the restrictive side. The issue was whether staffers could go to concerts where the proceeds clearly were to benefit a candidate or party.

A short excerpt:

I believe our allegiance has to be to you, our readers. We should avoid doing anything that would raise a question in your mind about our ability to be fair. (We journalists already are fighting an uphill battle, as witness the Dan Rather apology this week.)

I believe we should err on the side of caution, that we should do everything we can to maintain and build your trust and should do nothing to damage it.

My approach doesn't necessarily sit well with everyone here, especially those who believe the only issue is whether our work is fair and accurate, not whether our actions outside the newsroom raise questions in a reasonable person's mind about our ability to be fair and accurate. Outside activities don't matter; the quality of our work does, the proponents of this view argue.

But I believe appearances matter. Journalists have to give up certain things for the sake of their job. Of course, normally they should be able to go to concerts or movies of their choosing. It's important for us to be curious and to be exposed to different ideas.

But journalists shouldn't become part of the story.

Reactions?
Addendum:
Came across this story later from the Daily Pennsylvanian (University of Pennsylvania) in which the writer argues that The Daily Show might well be one of the most honest and most informing shows, especially this election season, by abandoning the idea of balance. He uses what has become a more fashionable argument lately -- that not all truths are equally balanced and that the media must make judgements.

Press clippings

Well, we got a nice mention in a Gamecock story on blogging (reg may be req.). Unfortunately, the facts were close, but ...
To clarify: This blog's not just for seniors. As well-evidenced by the posts, it's for everyone. We even have someone lined up who's out in the real world but just has a couple credits to finish (if he'll post - hint, hint )

And the contributors are across all sequences, not just ad, PR and vis com.

So, OK, budding journos. React in your postings. How does it feel to be the subject of a story that sorta almost gets it right, but ...

So what do we do in college?

Well, here's one example: the latest edition of Cyberhemia, the online publication by Professor Wiggins' writing class.

And another link -- this one to the online site for our senior semesters: the Carolina Reporter and the Carolina News.

The right intentions

I really don't have much time to post, since I have to get up before the sun to make it to Mr. Fisher's class, but I feel the need to post anyway.
I am a political science minor, and politics and journalism come up a lot in class. In one of my classes, I have learned that for every minute of clips of statements from politicians, there are about six minutes of commentary from journalists on what the polititian said.
If I have learned anything this semester, it is that journalists just leave a bad taste in many people's mouths. It doesn't matter what field you are reporting from, being a journalist carries a stigma, and right now it isn't really a good one.
I have known since 8th grade that I wanted to be a journalist. I don't think those that go into the field to meet famous people or to become famous themselves necessarily have the right intentions. But I know, as I have written before, as a journalist it is your responsibility to report the truth to the public. You have the opportunity to shake things up, hold leaders accountable and make changes possible.
Since I work for the scholastic press office, I recently went to my old high school to do some PR work for our upcoming convention. It amazed me that the newspaper only had two pages of hard news, the rest were features and sports. This is okay, but are you really doing your readers any justice by having a health and fitness spread when there are more serious issues going on in the school district? I know that this specific example doesn't apply everywhere, but as a journalist you should be aware of what affects your readers. Tell them why they need to know about issues in the community, how it could affect them and why they should take interest.
For softer news, though, the approach might be a little different. My roommate wants to be a music journalist. But it isn't so she can meet the bands and get free CDs. She really cares about music and its affect on people. I think letting the public know about music, books, movies and basically anything going on in our culture around us needs to be exposed to the public. For instance, the Nickelodeon theater in town is hosting a Latin film festival. Reporting about this exposes the community to different cultures while doing something they love. And if there isn't some entertainment mixed in with all the hard news, the audience will either get bored or uninterested. Everything can't always be in-your-face zoning meetings, school board elections and crime reports.
A newspaper or broadcast should be well-rounded, and yes, it will have entertainment and sports. It is this way because America is like this; they watch the news, catch up on what celebrity married their camera man, catch the sports scores and then fall aslep with the seven day forecast. If your publication isn't diverse, and you don't expect it to be diverse, then I think you miss out on the big picture, and you will lose your audience. I like politics and that is what I want to report on, but I don't expect everyone to do what I want to do. I think that is what makes journalism so great, you can specialize in something that really interests you and be able to write about those issues going on around you that pertain to your interests. It keeps you fresh and liking your job and it keeps your writing from getting stale so people won't quit reading.

I don't know if any of this really makes sense, and I feel like I am rambling. I just know that your intentions before going into the field should be in the right place, and if they are, then I think as a journalist you will do well.

Julia

What is journalism?

Jenni, in her comments to Professor Wigggins' post, raises some valid points, I think. Is journalism too focused on government and politics -- perhaps because it's "easy" (everything is, to an extent, self-contained; we know the rules; government does touch our daily lives; etc.)? Business news has exploded in the past 15 years, but access is much harder, the rules aren't as clear (except where government intersects), and we have a built-in conflict and bias -- journalism as currently practiced is largely a big business. Entertainment journalism, as noted in the response to Jenni, still leaves a bad taste in some mouths, perhaps because of the way it is practiced. So let me throw open the discussion to our bloggers: What is journalism to you?

Stress and how to live to talk about it

The worst three weeks of my college career are past. I never thought I'd live to see the other side. After a two-year period since my copy editing class, the refresher was a killer. For those whose lives have never gone without a computer, learning the info graphics portion cold in a matter of days might not even result in breaking a sweat. For someone who grew up with a manual typewriter, however, the experience has been far from pleasant. Those who say their final semester of college is the easiest are not journalism majors. I'm slightly more relaxed now that we're in actual production of the j-school newspaper. The work of the past three weeks, I would argue, must be harder than the job of writer or editor in the workplace. A restful night's sleep has been foreign to me until the past few evenings. Thank goodness--my gray hairs were going white.

Job Future

I didn't want to be the first one to tackle Mr. Fisher's question, but I guess I will because it is bothering me that no one has responded.
In reference to the J. Blair's of the world, I'm not so much scared of it hurting my job perspectives. I know I love journalism. And I also know that no matter how badly I want a story, it would be harder for me to lie than to tell the truth. I'm not saying that I might never get myself into trouble, but I would definitely never make up a story.
When I was an editor on my high school newspaper, one of my staff writers plagarized a story. I was so angry. But I calmly went to my adviser and told her what had happened, and we made a plan of action in how to repremand the student. Though that experience isn't quite on the same scale, I still learned though the easy way out might work, it will eventually catch up with you.
I'm not sure if you are new on the job that being repremanded won't set you straight, but I also know that this is a job where there is no room for error. I can't say that I will never screw up a headline, because it is highly likely, I did it this week in copy editing lab and earned 15 points. I do know that I don't want a person who will do anything for a story in my business. There is a fine line about what can get you fired today, and I don't want something like a crazy headline to cost me my job, but that is the chance I took when I decided this is what I wanted to do with my life. I knew that this was a cut throat industry, but to me, this is worth it. I will deal with having to be perfect.

The Blair-Glass-Kelley et al. legacy

We've had some really good posts here, some very eye-opening ones. I hope you are enjoying the insights of our posters, and I encourage those visiting this blog to comment. (Eds. note: Rest assured, we are not editing the postings, though we might occasionally see a little grammar faux pas and tell the poster.)

I'd like to toss a question into the mix to get another thread going. With Jayson Blair, Jack Kelley, Stephen Glass and a host of other folks (such as the recent case of a Seattle Times business columnist) openly or inadvertently borrowing (without credit) or fabricating material -- and getting fired for it with limited chance at redemption -- have you thought about the climate this is producing in journalism and how it might affect your career and the way you practice your craft? Is it affecting your attitude as you go through school at a time when, by many estimates, significant numbers of students buy term papers and otherwise cheat?

Doug

My epiphany

Of all the things I have learned at the J-school, I never thought I would have to re-learn the reason why I decided to be a journalism major. Today I did that.
I took a trip to Mr. Fisher's office to look at my blogs for this site so I could see what I was doing wrong. (I know he is editing this now and it just kills me.) But while there, he looked at my latest article in The Gamecock. I was so upset about my lead being changed by the editors, that I didn't even look at what I had done wrong in the article myself.
I had completely lost sight of what the article meant to my audience. The worst thing I could ever do.
But, this is also a learning experience.
Though I have no clue what I want to do when I leave here, I have always known that I wanted to be a journalist because I wanted to report the news. I wanted to work with features in news to bring the personal side of news to my audience and be able to touch their feelings. Somewhere in the process of beginning to write again, interviewing and doing the million other things in my life, I lost my reasoning behind what I do.
I forgot my responsibility to my audience to tell them what they don't already know. If you just rehash what they already know, especially in newspapers, then they won't read your writing, and they definitley won't watch your newscast. Your audience also needs to feel like they were with you because you touched on all the senses to make them feel that way, super important in feature writing...and I missed the mark on it.
I am so glad that I stopped by his office. I have always known why I was here, I just didn't carry it out into my real world work. And this might be a ridiculous entry to some, but remember, while at the j-school, even though you get bogged down by classes, meetings and life, don't forget that you are being trusted to tell the world what they don't already know, not just get another byline...and it is your obligation to your audience to never lose sight of that.