Duty of Journalist...

 

1. Introduction

Shall I tell you a story?

A journalist once asked me what I thought the duty of a journalist was.

I said it was to be objective, to ask questions and to report the facts. He said that didn’t sound very real, because reporters are often biased towards the people they are writing about and don’t always report the facts accurately.

I said that if he is a reporter, he should ask questions and report facts. He said no, he was supposed to be objective and only report the facts as they were perceived by his readers.

I told him maybe I could put it like this: If a journalist is not objective then his or her job is pointless. So if he or she does not have an interest in the subject matter, then it becomes useless for them to write about it. He then goes on to say if journalists do not have an interest in the subject matter, then why do they write about it? How can they possibly know what is useful for their readers? It’s just confusing that people have different opinions on things with different amounts of information and no way of being sure which one is correct.

2. Definition of a journalist

The most frequent question I get is “what is the duty of a journalist?”. It is not the same as “Why do you care so much about this?”. That’s different. That’s what we ask journalists: why do you care so much about this?

The answer depends on your business model, but not your role as a journalist. If you sell subscriptions to your audience (the most common), then you are primarily a salesperson and have to convince their decision maker that the product or service is worth paying for.

If you are content marketing, then your job essentially boils down to providing value-add to people who are already interested in your product (or at least who might be interested if it was not an obvious part of their day-to-day). For example, if someone buys a podcast they can expect lots of upvotes. If they buy an article commenting on a product, they can expect lots of comments and links back to them from other people who are also interested in that topic or product category. Thus, the role of the journalist will differ greatly depending on whether you want to sell products or simply provide value-add.

The reason we say that “journalists” should not be confused with “product managers” is because reporting on news stories, crafty reporting or writing opinion pieces all fall under journalism. You don’t see journalists writing about social media every day, but when they do it can be very insightful and useful for marketers who wish to better understand and market their products or services in different parts of society than Facebook's 1 billion users .

3. Types of journalist

There is a lot of uncertainty about what exactly a journalist does when reporting on a company. There are legal definitions, but most importantly, there is no clear definition that can be used to adjudicate between different kinds of journalists and how to apply the principles necessary to produce a fair, balanced and accurate report.

My answer: It all depends. In my personal opinion, if you have enough experience and expertise with the business/industry in question you are a journalist, otherwise not (if you’re just “an ordinary person” then you’re not).

A good journalist is one who has an interest in the topic at hand which is obvious from his or her work (e.g. if he or she works for Reuters, he or she should be able to write stories on China and economic developments in China).

For me this is what I consider an “ordinary person” — someone who has enough experience with a particular industry to write about it competently. And that’s what I consider journalists. I don’t think it matters at all whether someone only works for

4. Duties and Responsibilities of a journalist

This is a common question and the answer is: “You will do what you were trained to do”. In other words, you will do your job, which is to report accurately and objectively on the events happening in your area of interest.

Some people get it wrong though. They think that because we are journalists, we have a duty to inform the public about whatever we cover. This is not what journalists are paid for – or even expected to do – and so it has been a common reason for people asking us “what should I be doing?”

But here’s the thing: the job description does not say “be neutral about something”. It says “report anything that happens in your area of interest as accurately as possible, including conflicts of interest, bias or distortion.” Which means that if you are being paid by The New York Times to write an article covering Trump Tower in Manhattan (or anywhere else), then you have a duty to say what you know – no matter how much it hurts the feelings of Trump supporters or how much it contradicts current mainstream news reporting habits (and no matter how much it might violate some journalistic ethical codes).

In short: if you are paid by The New York Times to write an article on The Trump Campaign HQ in Manhattan, then you are definitely going to write one. We bet most journalists would rather not be paid by The New York Times at all than do this type of work on their own time or at someone else’s behest; but that doesn't mean they shouldn't if they're being paid for it, either.

5. Key skills required for a journalist

A journalist is someone who works for a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication. Usually these are news organizations, but they can also work in other mediums that have an interest in politics and current events such as television and radio. In this article I will be focusing on journalism on the internet because that is where most journalists work today.

It’s important to point out that there are different types of journalism, which function differently from each other with regard to the information they provide and their ability to influence public opinion. The role of the journalist differs from source to source depending on its goals.

Most newspapers and magazines are intended for a general audience; whereas radio would be aimed at medium-sized businesses or audiences interested in current affairs, radio is generally intended for advertising purposes and is often seen as a delivery mechanism for political or advertising messages. Newspapers are different from TV news outlets however, which are strictly editorialized news products aimed at general audiences and not necessarily intended to reach advertising markets.

A journalist is someone who works for a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication. Usually these are news organizations, but they can also work in other mediums that have an interest in politics and current events such as television and radio. In this article I will be focusing on journalism on the internet because that is where most journalists work today. It’s important to point out that there are different types of journalism, which function differently from each other with regard to the information they provide and their ability to influence public opinion. Most newspapers and magazines are intended for a general audience; whereas radio would be aimed at medium-sized businesses or audiences interested in current affairs, radio is generally intended for advertising purposes and is often seen as a delivery mechanism for political or advertising messages. Newspapers are different from TV news outlets however, which are strictly editorialized news products aimed at general audiences and not necessarily intended to reach advertising markets.

6. Challenges faced by journalists

“The idea that the press has a duty to tell the truth is a myth.” –Ambrose Bierce

So argues Ambrose Bierce, who was one of the first journalists cited as a source for this blog post. When journalists do their jobs well, they don’t have to pretend their work is not political (and often are not). Similarly, when they do their jobs poorly, they should acknowledge this and move on.

Bierce was describing the mudslinging that goes on in many public forums — from boardrooms to courtrooms — and in journalism generally; but he also tells us that we have an obligation to tell the truth about business and politics:

Beware of making false statements which are intended to promote your own party or cause. Such statements may be regarded as lies, but no worse than those made by other men of influence in similar cases. The fact that you ought not to say them does not necessarily make them true. The same rule holds good where you are asked to express your opinion upon subjects which are in dispute between different parties, with equal rights of reference as regards facts. Do not say what you think will be useful or desirable; say what you believe has been done; or what you believe will be done if it should be done at all. Do not write on matters where there exists a strong suspicion that there is an untruth involved; if your faith is great enough in the correctness of your own view, you can bear witness to it without being suspected of partiality; but if another’s faith is small enough for such gross partiality, he will always prefer his own opinion . . . If any man should make any statement as false which he knows would be promptly disbelieved by any one who had knowledge of its falsity, he would have no reason for making it false — and therefore would be under an obligation to give sufficient evidence, so far as lay within his power, that its falsity could not reasonably be doubted . . . When all these rules have been observed by him who makes his report from personal knowledge (as he usually does), he shall add as much evidence of its truthfulness as he is able.

7. Conclusion

The editors of this space have been working on this topic for a long time, and I think we’ve hit on something that’s not clear to many people.

I’m not going to defend who is entitled to do what in the news media, nor am I going to attempt to answer whether there is a right or wrong way of doing things. But, as you can see from my title, I will be asking questions about how journalists should behave.

This isn’t just an exploratory exercise. It is our job as a newsroom to make sure that information gets out there, even if it means behaving badly (or is, perhaps at least by design).

I don’t want us to lose sight of the fact that we’re trying to bridge the gap between what people want and what journalists are supposed to report on. And that probably means we need rules of thumb for how we should behave ourselves and for others who may be reporting on us. That inevitably includes people who work at other organizations.

I have no problem with asking people here at MacRumors (or elsewhere) to do their jobs better than they have been doing them in the past (which is hard enough), but when it comes down to it, it behooves all of us as journalists and editors — especially those in other organizations — not simply ask them not to do their jobs the same way they have done them before but ask them precisely what they should be doing differently.

At times I hope we get away with acting like jerks; at times I hope we get away with overstepping our bounds; and sometimes I hope that our behavior isn’t noticed enough (and thus punished) so that it doesn’t happen again.

But when those incidents occur, let me remind you very clearly that there are consequences for violating journalistic ethics or laws:  one obvious consequence is the loss of credibility . It would also be difficult for me personally if you had filed a complaint against me because you thought my story was too damaging or because you thought my behavior was unacceptable . A second consequence could be legal action . And thirdly, there might also be some loss of opportunity — an opportunity which might in turn lead someone else somewhere else in their career path or even elsewhere in their life .  And finally, if nothing else happens then maybe even fewer others will follow suit (or worse), leading us back down that slippery slope