Verification

Verification in Journalism

(attempting to tell the truth)

Ever feel like you’re always wrong? Like no matter what you say someone somewhere can and probably will refute it. Well you’re not alone, we are ALL always wrong, at least a little bit. Then how, might you ask, does a journalist tell the truth? The answer has to do with the term verification, and how verification is giving basically accurate information versus the full truth.

Basically accurate information still requires a lot of time and effort to acquire. There are rules that any honest journalist should and does follow. Adding things to a story that weren’t really there is one way to give false verification. Sure a fancier story could attract more readers, or help your story reach the headlines but as soon as you’re caught, your credibility is gone. Along with the fact that you’ll probably get fired. So let’s make it easy on everyone and keep to the story at hand.

Verification also deals with the idea of deception. As the book The Elements of Journalism states, “[deception] mocks the idea that journalism is committed to truth.” Deception can occur in a story in many ways; first could be in the finding of information. It’s important to find information from every angle of the situation, not just according to your opinion. Second, journalists should never advocate something; they’re not advertisers, business men, or street dealers. Journalists are hard at work to provide a story that is as unbiased as possible, no advocating. And third, as journalists for newspaper articles often times there are parts of the story that must be cut in order to fit it to the page they’re designated. However, it’s important not to cut information that is significant to the story; this is another way to deceive the reader.

It is essential for a journalist to use their own notes. “Heard it Through the Grapevine” may be a great song, but it’s not a great way to write articles.  A person that writes a story by merely hearing about it through someone else better be writing it for a gossip column because that’s all it is, gossip. Journalist should double check all their sources if they’re getting information from other people. Taking verification into mind will make any journalist that much more credible, loyal, and all around better.

Who is a Journalist?

Who is a Journalist?

To dive deeper into a previous mentioned subject of what is a journalist? I wanted to mention a few more things that set journalists apart from the every-day writer, blogger, or freelancer.  The first is the idea of having a degree or just being a freelance writer. I don’t necessarily believe that you must have a degree to be a journalist, there are plenty of examples of those who never got a degree but are amazing writers and put their talent towards journalism. Here is an article that talks about whether or not a journalist needs a degree, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5516316/do_you_need_a_journalism_degree_to.html, in this article it mentions a few that don’t have journalism degrees but are still well-known journalists such as Anderson Cooper who got a degree in international relations and  political science, Walter Cronkite who was a college dropout, and Larry king who never even went to college. So it can be proven that you don’t need a degree to be a journalist, but I believe having one helps those that are not “gifted” with the ability to write like a journalist naturally.  I also believe that journalism isn’t just a one-time thing, journalists write their entire lives. A degree helps separate the one-timers from the real journalists.

            With today’s new technology and computer-dependent citizens, the definition of a journalist gets a bit more difficult. Some argue that a person who posts things on Twitter would be considered a journalist. Blogs, maybe, if they’re really good and very consistent, but twitter? That’s where I draw the line.  Writing something in 140 characters or less does not equate to the kinds of stories a journalist has to write. 140 characters or less is more like a headline to a journalist’s story, then the actual story itself. Twitter is a place to throw out news in very small tidbits of information, I don’t mean to bash twitter, twitter is a great place to gain information about the news of the world, I just don’t believe it should be considered journalism. A journalist can gather all the information, and all the facts and then turn those into a story, it’s not merely puking 140 characters about what has just recently happened.

            Journalism is an art that takes dedication from its writers, and for those that don’t have a special talent in this art a degree is a great way to get on the right track to writing amazing stories. It may not be a prerequisite to journalism to have a journalism degree, but in today’s slow-going economy and ever-changing news I feel it’s a good thing to have up your sleeve. But just because today’s world is ever-changing and news is being thrown in our face in new ways, doesn’t make all news journalistic news. Things like twitter where a blast of only 140 characters is needed should not make that writer a journalist. A journalist is well-rounded in their stories; putting all the information ,and all the facts into an interesting and intriguing story.

Where Does Loyalty Lay?

Loyalty

Every good business man or woman knows that their loyalty lies with the company they work for. It seems simple in their minds that if you’re going to work for them, you better promote, speak well of, and mind that company. For a journalist, it’s not quite as black and white. Journalists have a loyalty pull from both the business side of things and the citizens. The question is, who comes first? I believe journalists have to walk a very tight rope not leaning to far towards one side or the other.

From the business side of journalism comes the paycheck. Believe it or not most journalists do enjoy getting, and rely on the paycheck that comes with their hard-working job. To be able to rely on that paycheck a journalist must honor the business he or she works for, and to put it in the form of an idiom, not bite the hand that feeds them. In a business world one must answer to those that are in a higher position. When someone is not courteous or obedient to their boss, it’s like the stinkbug from A Bug’s Life says, “You Fired!” When we put things into perspective though, it only makes sense that journalists would want to do these things for those of a higher rank, and the company they work for because they are the ones providing a way for journalists to publish their voice. If it weren’t for the business, journalists would just be unpaid bloggers.

To portray the opposing side, http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles is a website that outlines the principles of journalism. On here it says, “While news organizations answer to many constituencies, including advertisers and shareholders, the journalists in those organizations must maintain allegiance to citizens and the larger public interest above any other if they are to provide the news without fear or favor. This commitment to citizens first is the basis of a news organization's credibility, the implied covenant that tells the audience the coverage is not slanted for friends or advertisers.” This site brings out some good points about the credibility a journalist gets from being loyal to their readers. It is vital for a journalist to maintain credibility with readers or else once again, the journalist will be out of the job. If stories are skewed one way or another, they’re no longer credible, so journalists must ensure that their business won’t cause them to write a story in a slanted way.

For the most part I believe that the business of journalism has discovered this sweet spot in between business versus citizen. CEO’s hire managers, and managers hire journalists so it’s important to have the owner of the company believe in the core journalistic values, which include loyalty to the citizens. As a journalist one must make sure there are clear standards and that there is clear communication before ever even taking a job at a select business so that they don’t ever have to worry about walking the tightrope between loyalty to the business and loyalty to the citizen.