True to the Truth and True to the Citizen

     One of the biggest obligations that journalists have in the industry is determining to whom and what they are loyal. Part of being a journalist is being committed to the truth and then offering the truth up to the public in an unbiased and well-founded way. The Nieman foundation for journalism at Harvard University explains that “A commitment to citizens is more than professional egoism. It is the implied covenant with the public … the notion that those who report the news are not obstructed from digging up and telling the truth … It is the basis of why we as citizens believe in a news organization.” http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102542/Journalisms-First-Loyalty-Is-to-Citizens.aspx

These are particularly strong words. To say that we hold a “covenant” with the public to find and tell the truth places an important weight upon journalists. Many times journalists forget about this important, sacred pact that they have made with the public. Especially in the the society of today it is easy for journalists to slip into heresy and report their opinion instead of the truth. They forget their commitment to the citizens and allow their standards to fall so that they can get that “story” - if it can even be called that once they are done with it. But the question comes – why do journalists allow their standards to slip? Sherrie Gossett investigated into this further and explains that there are several reasons that this can happen. Standards may slip because “the pressure of the competitive 24-hour news cycle and the push to be first with a story, without adequate checking” is intense and can certainly lead to a slip in standards. http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/standards-in-journalism/ This in particular took place when NPR reported that Sen. Gifford from Arizona had been not only shot in the head but killed, when in fact she was still alive and recovering.

Thus, as we strive to become journalists it is important now more than ever that we hold to standards of finding the truth, sharing the truth and giving support to the truth. The Pew Media Study in the New York Times explains that “there's a feeling that in the digital age, information is a commodity that's just available and there's not always a sense of how it's generated or produced.” Many times this feeling allows journalists to take the amount of information available for granted. This same study also “reaffirmed public distrust of the media as an institution.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/business/media/pew-media-study-shows-reliance-on-many-outlets.html I feel that if the decline in standards is to change the media must make a return to the basics. We must demonstrated a sense of loyalty to the public in such a way that they know we are loyal to them. We must demonstrate a sense of honor and high standards in journalism. When this happens the media will be much more influential for good. But, until this happens the public will continue to distrust the media and eventually may lead to the undoing of journalism as we know it.