Centerfield

Media ethics

Andrew Cline writes:

It's rather easy to accuse Dan [Rather] et. al. of neglecting the fundamentals of reporting because it is so clearly the case. But Dan's a big boy, knows the score, and so I think there's probably something(s) else going on here--yet to be fully understood. At SMS we teach students that the ethical and professional practice of journalism requires a discipline of verification. You don't write what you can't prove.

Unfortunately, that's not the lesson that students see in the news media. Regarding political coverage, they see numerous examples every day in all media in which reporters fail to verify the information they gather--information usually gathered in the form of quotes from sources. They report what's said and leave it for the public to figure out on their own what's true. But figuring it out is what journalism is supposed to be doing for the public.

Because journalists have abandoned this basic practice of the profession, citizens go looking elsewhere for the fact-checking and verification that's so necessary to making informed political decisions. And some of them find it on the internet on weblogs.

Yep...I teach my students the fundamentals. I just hope they can find places to work that will insist they apply them.

Cline is an assistant professor of journalism at Southwest Missouri State University.

Posted by Erasmus at September 21, 2004 07:59 PM