Honoring journalists

In Honor of Journalists

Written by Dan McDonald

 

            It is the political season, when political candidates and commenters representing the thoughts of right and left will declare how biased the journalists are. Remember the political candidates are doing that to give incentive to their base and gain more of a hearing from people who haven’t begun listening to their message. In the reality of things, every politician is trying to get the journalist biased for him or her, because they know they need the journalist to spread the news that they are courting the voter with a message and a plan. I happen to think that journalists, like welders, bricklayers, farmers, teachers, and cooks are important to modern life. I advocate getting a local newspaper thrown into your yard like this one I got tossed into my yard today.

My local newspaper – helps me keep informed though I only read a fraction of it

 

            I am indebted to a former journalism student for helping me to gain an appreciation and respect for journalists. He isn’t in journalism now but when I think of journalists I think of him. My life was changed a few years ago, because we shared a common love – ale. We’d get together at a nice pub downtown and have ale and talk about politics and life. We were in different places in life. I was an older guy, the sort who probably did not have many more upwards moves in my career. He was the young guy starting out that wasn’t sure if he would get the upwards moves in life. In those days I was a Libertarian with thoughts, and opinions, but somewhat short on actual facts. I soon realized that although he viewed life from a moderately or sometimes more complete liberal perspective, he was the one who took care to be informed. I began to realize that he was the sort of person who would make a wonderful journalist. As we conversed over our pints of ale, he was one of the most careful listeners with whom I had ever conversed. I found that my tendencies to get fired up and opinionated dissolved whether it was the hops in the fine ale or the friendship offered in one who was as careful to listen as he was to speak. My life began to change because we got together in those days for ale and conversation.

 

Our old hangout – 1^st Street in Tulsa - not far from the center window on the left.

 

            I began to realize that whether life had prepared him to have been able to become a good journalist, if he had so chosen; or if training for journalism had influenced his life – that he had what it took to make a good journalist. That changed how I thought about journalists. I am now not so easily dismayed at journalists. I refuse to believe that most journalists are truth twisters. I am sure, like all of us they have their biases and blind spots as individuals. That is a given I take for all of us. But what’s it take to be a good journalist?

            It takes someone who wants to get the story. Years ago I loved a television show called “Early Edition” about a guy who got tomorrow’s newspaper today from a cat. It was late 90’s fare. O’ I was upset when it was taken off the air. During one stretch, Gary Hobson, the guy that got the newspaper had the beginnings of a promising relationship with a news reporter. The problem was she couldn’t help herself around the paper. She wanted to get the inside scoop, whereas Gary used it to help people in need. As they went their separate ways she said in regards to her own life, “once a news hound; always a news hound.” That is a good reporter. They want to get the news, the scoop, and the story. They want to dig into the soil to discover the buried treasure.

            How does a journalist get the story? As often as not, it is through building relationships. People trust them or imagine they can use them. Sometimes, when a politician says the media is against him, he is looking for a journalist he can shame into carrying his or her water. But in the long run, the politician learns he can’t trust the reporter he can shame because remorse is a fickle friend that easily becomes a resolute enemy. So he learns the best reporter for him to give the news is someone he believes has integrity to handle the story. I follow a few reporters on Twitter, who are embedded with specific candidates. It is interesting to watch how they try to maintain enough distance to not be cheerleaders, while cultivating enough closeness to get the story. In the long run the way they maintain the respect of the audience and the respect of the people from whom they are trying to get the story – in a single word is “integrity.”

            I understand some reporters are better at doing their work with integrity than others. The same is true of farmers, welders, and bricklayers. But I think that a lot of journalists understand that the way they will best build their careers is to cultivate integrity as the medium that stands between the sources for their story and the markets for their stories. Integrity is the only enduring quality that allows a journalist to do their job honestly and faithfully. I hope most journalists agree, and I hope this word of support will encourage them to stand resolute in what they already know.