By Willis Webb | Published Thursday, October 8, 2009
There's a human tendency to react negatively to someone or something with which we disagree. In journalism, that tendency is akin to killing the messenger.
As a result, journalists are frequently held in low esteem. Some polls show that genre is regarded as even being below attorneys and politicians. Sheesh!
When you group the electronic media with the print media, that is somewhat understandable. Mix in the entertainment function of electronic media, including talk shows, and one can begin to understand why the public gets a bit mixed up regarding what is news, what is fiction and what is entertainment. Television news, boxed in somewhat by time constraints, tends to go for colorful sound bites that are often not representative of the real story.
Throw in the Web-surfing Internet generation with all of the opinion blogs and unsubstantiated storytelling, and one begins to have a feel for why there is public distrust of "journalists."
There are good journalists in each medium. Naturally, I believe that print journalists are the most ethical and disciplined.
Demands for accuracy, facts and substantiated stories in newspapers have always been constant and unwavering from owners, publishers and editors.
"But news isn't just a product; in a democracy, the press exists to investigate and criticize the government. And local newspapers are the best source of aggressive reporting on local issues - school boards, municipal courts, city councils and the like," said Jack Cafferty, The Cafferty Report, Cable News Network (CNN).
Kathleen Parker, one of the most widely read syndicated newspaper columnists, is an avowed right-to-life proponent and a conservative. She generally writes a very balanced and informed column. And, yes, columns are commentary. In a January column, Parker said, "Many have a special hatred for the best (news)papers: the ones that do the expensive, labor-intensive reporting that keeps government in check and exposes corruption, sometimes even among their own kind."
As for the low esteem in which some hold journalists, Parker says: "Some deserve it; most do not."
None of us are close to sainthood. Journalists provide a valuable service and commodity, and the rewards are few. As Parker said, "If you want friends or money, newspapering ain't for you."
What much of the public hears and discusses most are things reported in the mainstream media of big city daily newspapers and television - national events and politics. The same holds true on a state level. State government is going to be covered more in depth in the major city dailies.
Working for a newspaper is not, as pointed out, the most lucrative profession and due to the attitudes described in the first few paragraphs of this column, we aren't in it to make a lot of friends. You're certain to offend a "friend" someday with a story they will find hurtful. News isn't always good.
To me though, the purest form of journalism, thus the most accurate, is in the smaller towns in community newspapers.
More than any other journalistic group, I believe those in small town newspapers engage in the profession for reasons more altruistic. I have always believed that at a small town newspaper, one can have more impact for good than at a metropolitan daily.
We get to write about living and dying and of achieving awards and honors. And, yes, we write about politics, government and crime.
Additionally, those of us fortunate enough to have spent our lives in community journalism know that the people we write about will be wherever we go in the course of our regular lives - in the bank, in the schools, in the grocery store, at funerals, at weddings and at church. We get to interact with our neighbors daily. I know of nothing more effective at evoking the truth in the news.
National Newspaper Week is Oct. 4-10. Be nice to your community reporter, editor and publisher.
Willis Webb is a retired community newspaper editor-publisher. He can be reached by email at wwebb@wildblue.net.
