The world of journalism is changing every second. We have the internet taking over like we’ve never seen before and social networking becoming a new section of journalism. Newspapers are on the decline while readership has never been so high for news online. As a broadcast student I just look for the one important quality in all of the news I read, look at, or watch. And that is the truth. Yes it may be a cliché answer but I don’t care. That is what journalism is all about and that is the code I will strive to live by as I begin my journey as a journalist.
Entertainment news is popping up all over the place and are sometimes filled with lies and tabloid stories. While I do not believe it is REAL journalism, if it what my viewers want to watch and ask me to deliver it, I will. But I will check and re-check my sources to make sure they are credible. Just look at the recent miscommunication and un-credible source scandal about the rather rude and indecent comments that former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said about USC coach Pete Carroll. Weis has later come out to say that he was misquoted and not referencing to Carroll when he spoke of a college coach living with a grad student. Now if the website had taken the time to make sure that Weis had indeed made these comments, there would not be so much controversy surrounding the two coaches. Instead real journalism would have taken place. We cannot accept un-credible sources as reliable to deliver to the American viewers. We must know the truth and report that and that only.
In this competitive world of journalism, it would be so easier to make up our own fantastic stories and pass them off as news. That is in fact what disgraced New York Times reporter Jayson Blair was doing. When caught, he was fired immediately and the public was quick to not trust any of his latter stories. I know that stories about scandals in a town involving a mayor or public figure would help out my ratings as an anchor for a struggling news station, but unless it is the truth I will not report it. Journalists can cause so much damage in the lives of others if we fabricate stories. Journalists already have a bad reputation for being dishonest, why not change that?
I believe in having ethics and morals as a journalist. I believe in staying strong to who you are as an individual and in caring for the greater good. Truth is not an option in my world. It is necessary. I want to bring back that trust to the American public. The late and great Walter Cronkite was once the most trusted man in American because he gave them their news. I’m going to seriously doubt that the same can be said for Katie Couric right now. I want to change that. And if we all make sure truth is always present in our journalism, I think we can.
