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.