To quote St. Vincent of Sheepshead Bay, that would be Bill Murray in the movie of the same approximate name, about the Ladies of the Night "one of the more honest ways to make a living". About "Journalists" he would not be so kind especially since they have been involved with propagating so much anti-democratic manipulation of populations in the service of dictators and emplaced governments to this day.
1
Ask Sharyl Attkisson what happens when you try to be a real journalist.
1
It is a shame that the state of journalism for many young writers is dangerous and financially unrealistic. In a way, the straining circumstances of entry-level journalism jobs can be a good thing—it ensures that those that do write are passionate and well-intentioned. In a way, this brings journalists into the realm of the "starving artist." Writers who wish to start their career may do so through reporting and journalistic writing and thus have in themselves a commitment to the art of writing itself. The less glamor, fame, and money is associated with journalism, the more sincere and concerned writers will be. There is a limit to this, however. As war zones continue to hazard to the lives of journalists looking for truth, capable writers will turn away from the profession, and perhaps writing on the whole. Hearing the stories of ISIS executions and mid-interview executions, such people cannot be blamed for staying away. As such, there need to be stricter global protections for journalists, ones which are actually enforced and taken seriously throughout the entire international community. We can all relate to the "strange mix of adrenaline and idealism" for the truth that Mr. Bach and other young journalists feel. It can only be hoped that this urge to write about the world does not lead young literary talent into more danger and catastrophe. While this balance between zeal and danger seems to work for now, change is necessary to preserve journalism for the future.
Can you spell c-h-a-m-p-i-on?
Jonathan Bach, you are amazing!! You did a story on my daughter and touched our lives forever giving a memory to last a lifetime... My daughter may have not won the state spelling bee however, with your help her dream became a reality.. But only are you wonderful at what you do, you interact with such a way that you leave an impression.. Great article on such a deserving journalist. I pray you go far
Jonathan Bach, you are amazing!! You did a story on my daughter and touched our lives forever giving a memory to last a lifetime... My daughter may have not won the state spelling bee however, with your help her dream became a reality.. But only are you wonderful at what you do, you interact with such a way that you leave an impression.. Great article on such a deserving journalist. I pray you go far
The reporter who is independent enough to never care whose political or religious side is helped or hurt by telling the truth is the beacon of light in a contentious society. The biased worm who omits truth or gives people misleading information, however, is the lowest of the low.
Maybe the only way to be worse than a lying, bought journalist is to begin by establishing the good reputation and then throws integrity aside for reasons of survival or loyalty to lie on behalf of others. We need to drum those out first.
Thwere will always be used cars for those people to sell.
Maybe the only way to be worse than a lying, bought journalist is to begin by establishing the good reputation and then throws integrity aside for reasons of survival or loyalty to lie on behalf of others. We need to drum those out first.
Thwere will always be used cars for those people to sell.
It would not be doomed if people like Mr. Tobar would teach his students 'what, where, when, and basic sentence structure. This is really my greatest issue with so called Journalism today, journalists do not know how to write and communicate a story very well. Anyone who watches the AP or Reuters feeds through the day will know what I am talking about.
I wish all of Mr. Tobar's students and their fellows at other schools well but please all of you take the time to revisit 4th grade and learn about sentence structure again.
I wish all of Mr. Tobar's students and their fellows at other schools well but please all of you take the time to revisit 4th grade and learn about sentence structure again.
3
Reporting news will never be obsolete. It may and has changed formats but the thirst and need to know is as strong as ever. All we hope for are honest reporters of facts and opinions carefully thought out and noted.
Journalism can impact lives and improve the world. It can right injustices, expose corruption and idiocy and protect democracy.
Journalism has fallen into disrepute, not only as TV has replaced investigative reporters with vapid good-looking entertainers or as bloggers mangle the language and present unresearched reporting with opinion, but because journalists have failed abysmally as protectors of democracy.
By taking a vengeful dry drunk who faked National Guard service seriously as a candidate, the media allowed the Supreme Court to appoint George W. Bush to the presidency. Instead of outrage at that mutilation of democracy, the docile media acquiesced to the coup. Instead of exposing Bush/Cheney lies about WMDs, media and journalists believed the liars, fed the fear and led the cheers for the Bush war on Iraq, for the authoritarian Patriot Act, for the rise of domestic spying. Instead of alerting us to the unprecedented disaster of global warming, the press gives excessive ink to science-illiterate climate change deniers. When police murdered unarmed black people with impunity, where were the journalists? Why do journalists ignore that the military gobbles half the federal wealth.
Journalism schools add to the problem. Instead of producing reporters with real knowledge of history, science, law, economics, schools turn out headline writers lacking in abilities to think critically, write passionately, or recognize a scoundrel or psychopath seeking office.
Journalism has fallen into disrepute, not only as TV has replaced investigative reporters with vapid good-looking entertainers or as bloggers mangle the language and present unresearched reporting with opinion, but because journalists have failed abysmally as protectors of democracy.
By taking a vengeful dry drunk who faked National Guard service seriously as a candidate, the media allowed the Supreme Court to appoint George W. Bush to the presidency. Instead of outrage at that mutilation of democracy, the docile media acquiesced to the coup. Instead of exposing Bush/Cheney lies about WMDs, media and journalists believed the liars, fed the fear and led the cheers for the Bush war on Iraq, for the authoritarian Patriot Act, for the rise of domestic spying. Instead of alerting us to the unprecedented disaster of global warming, the press gives excessive ink to science-illiterate climate change deniers. When police murdered unarmed black people with impunity, where were the journalists? Why do journalists ignore that the military gobbles half the federal wealth.
Journalism schools add to the problem. Instead of producing reporters with real knowledge of history, science, law, economics, schools turn out headline writers lacking in abilities to think critically, write passionately, or recognize a scoundrel or psychopath seeking office.
2
Media is not trustworthy and it won't be until money flows in to reward real research and reporting — not the phony kind being done today.
Somehow, between the classroom and the newsroom, something happens to make journalists unaccountable.
Spell check is the least of it. So many stories are taken at face value from sources with an economic stake in slanting coverage. He said she said. Stories are cut and pasted from the Internet.
I continue to see Wikipedia content in a lot of news stories. It's never cited as being from Wikipedia. I guess the writers think that no one checks.
I've written more than 100 letters calling out errors to editorial staff in the last four years, all the way from reporters to standards editors, including the TImes. The response is ever the same. We're sticking with our story.
Somehow, between the classroom and the newsroom, something happens to make journalists unaccountable.
Spell check is the least of it. So many stories are taken at face value from sources with an economic stake in slanting coverage. He said she said. Stories are cut and pasted from the Internet.
I continue to see Wikipedia content in a lot of news stories. It's never cited as being from Wikipedia. I guess the writers think that no one checks.
I've written more than 100 letters calling out errors to editorial staff in the last four years, all the way from reporters to standards editors, including the TImes. The response is ever the same. We're sticking with our story.
2
A straightforward, eloquent and moving tribute to journalists -- and journalism -- and the timing couldn't be better.
As the journalism industry continues its struggle for survival, here's hoping Mr. Tobar's essay serves as inspiration, not elegy.
As the journalism industry continues its struggle for survival, here's hoping Mr. Tobar's essay serves as inspiration, not elegy.
We don't need journalists; we need reporters - those who will simply report the unadorned acts. The problem is that the facts are usually not the facts. Hence, we need to know the identities of the reporters' sources, but that goes right to the heart of the journalistic code.
I used to read news articles in the so-called quality press like the Times (the London Times that is), the Guardian, the Independent and naively assume that I was reading the truth.
A rude awakening was when a reporter at a race I was in made up a spiel that I had supposedly given her - except that I never spoke to the reporter because I had to leave soon after the race was finished. She was obviously desperate for a story so she fabricated one. I liked this young woman, and I felt sorry for her, so I didn't make a fuss to her boss because I didn't want her to get into trouble - but it made me question the veracity of everything she subsequently wrote.
With the Internet, it became much easier to cross check stories, to read far more detailed local reporting, and to see that the big national papers were often distorting crucial details in order to make a complex story simpler and squeeze it neatly into the maximum words allotted. In addition, the best bloggers showed that many reporters were simply not doing their jobs properly.
The USA is relatively well off. The NYT, the Washington Post and the LA Times are probably about as good as it gets. These days, here in Oz and in the UK, it's another story.
I used to read news articles in the so-called quality press like the Times (the London Times that is), the Guardian, the Independent and naively assume that I was reading the truth.
A rude awakening was when a reporter at a race I was in made up a spiel that I had supposedly given her - except that I never spoke to the reporter because I had to leave soon after the race was finished. She was obviously desperate for a story so she fabricated one. I liked this young woman, and I felt sorry for her, so I didn't make a fuss to her boss because I didn't want her to get into trouble - but it made me question the veracity of everything she subsequently wrote.
With the Internet, it became much easier to cross check stories, to read far more detailed local reporting, and to see that the big national papers were often distorting crucial details in order to make a complex story simpler and squeeze it neatly into the maximum words allotted. In addition, the best bloggers showed that many reporters were simply not doing their jobs properly.
The USA is relatively well off. The NYT, the Washington Post and the LA Times are probably about as good as it gets. These days, here in Oz and in the UK, it's another story.
1
There is a bigger threat to journalism. Major news outlets, led by CNN, now cover stories based on their ratings potential. Reporters become drones for a profit driven enterprise that values sensationalism over substance. An example is the recent story about Lamar Odom, a former basketball player married to one of the Kardashians, who almost died from a drug overdose while at a brothel in Nevada. CNN sent one of its top reporters to the brothel where she was given a guided tour by the madam with a special emphasis on the bed where, she reported, Odom had spent $75,000 on prostitutes and took massive doses of an herbal "sexual enhancement" drug before he collapsed. That CNN would promote this sordid mess as their main story over a number of days shows the main threat to the profession. What was once the fodder of the National Enquirer is now mainstream journalism.
3
But at least it wasn't more MH370 postulation and imaginings as CNN wasted weeks on.
Value of journalism?
In the broadest sense I suppose--and to put journalism (and of course literature) in the most relevant modern perspective--journalism operates as a type, perhaps THE type, of national security and defense of democracy (open society) within a nation. I put the problem in these terms because of our increasingly modern problem of having a secretive national security apparatus not to mention any number of other corporate entities aiming both externally to and internally within the nation.
Journalism and literature serve to keep the written word free and from becoming appropriated. This is why of course all corporate, business, security, political, etc. interests attempt to not only keep journalism and literature subordinate, but to flood these avenues with their own operatives and to keep things from becoming transparent.
My belief is journalism and literature are fighting a losing battle. Things are so bad people do not even seem aware of various styles of the written word--that a person can write in any number of ways like styles in music. Rather things are becoming standardized and controlled within languages and the number of languages in the world are declining. The more language is of course standardized the more easily entities can control language and an entire populace.
We seem to be entering an age of decline of journalism, literature, increased secrecy by all entities, control of computer and therefore expression and simple politics.
In the broadest sense I suppose--and to put journalism (and of course literature) in the most relevant modern perspective--journalism operates as a type, perhaps THE type, of national security and defense of democracy (open society) within a nation. I put the problem in these terms because of our increasingly modern problem of having a secretive national security apparatus not to mention any number of other corporate entities aiming both externally to and internally within the nation.
Journalism and literature serve to keep the written word free and from becoming appropriated. This is why of course all corporate, business, security, political, etc. interests attempt to not only keep journalism and literature subordinate, but to flood these avenues with their own operatives and to keep things from becoming transparent.
My belief is journalism and literature are fighting a losing battle. Things are so bad people do not even seem aware of various styles of the written word--that a person can write in any number of ways like styles in music. Rather things are becoming standardized and controlled within languages and the number of languages in the world are declining. The more language is of course standardized the more easily entities can control language and an entire populace.
We seem to be entering an age of decline of journalism, literature, increased secrecy by all entities, control of computer and therefore expression and simple politics.
2
Who'd want to be part of the government media propaganda spin machine?
It does not really matter which government, since the power of any authority to mold the minds of the poorly educated, gullible, obsequious masses is pretty easy.
We know all about the Kardashians, which is sick enough and we also really think that the Lamar Odom story is true, again without any evidence. Have bigger fools ever been created. All brought to you by who, journalists.
Who brought up the recent Oregon shooting? You did. Is there any evidence, real physical evidence, substantive corroborated evidence to support the claim of a shootings and multiple murders and multiple wounded to the non-faithful? There is no evidence.
Who wants to be a journalist these days, obviously nobody.
It does not really matter which government, since the power of any authority to mold the minds of the poorly educated, gullible, obsequious masses is pretty easy.
We know all about the Kardashians, which is sick enough and we also really think that the Lamar Odom story is true, again without any evidence. Have bigger fools ever been created. All brought to you by who, journalists.
Who brought up the recent Oregon shooting? You did. Is there any evidence, real physical evidence, substantive corroborated evidence to support the claim of a shootings and multiple murders and multiple wounded to the non-faithful? There is no evidence.
Who wants to be a journalist these days, obviously nobody.
4
Thanks very much for this op ed piece from a Newhouse School alum. We are in great need of people such as yourself articulating what this calling is all about & what's at stake in doing it correctly.
Well, here is the core problem with journalism as it is practiced today, right there in Mr. Tobar's essay:
"“There’s nothing like dropping into a country for a week, and reporting a story, and getting it published,” he said."
Yes, just dropping into a country and reporting. That's what we do all the time. We send in 'reporters' who don't speak the language, who don't know the history, who don't understand the culture and they deliver 'facts and information.'
This was probably the best that newspapers could do in the 19th Century, but today, pretty much everyone in Syria has an iPhone that shoots video, takes stills and delivers texts. They are 'reporting' on what is actually happening to them all the time. But how much reporting or footage from an actual Syrian (who by the way speaks the language, knows the history and the culture and is actually experiencing what is happening) do we see? Would none be a good guess?
And why?
Because we can't 'trust' what a 'native' says.
Like I said, a VERY 19th Century view of the world.
Colonialist. Racist. And very much still in place. Mr. Tobar, with 3 billion smart phones in 3 billion hands around the world, I think it is time you started to rethink what journalism means in the 21st Century. Not the 19th.
"“There’s nothing like dropping into a country for a week, and reporting a story, and getting it published,” he said."
Yes, just dropping into a country and reporting. That's what we do all the time. We send in 'reporters' who don't speak the language, who don't know the history, who don't understand the culture and they deliver 'facts and information.'
This was probably the best that newspapers could do in the 19th Century, but today, pretty much everyone in Syria has an iPhone that shoots video, takes stills and delivers texts. They are 'reporting' on what is actually happening to them all the time. But how much reporting or footage from an actual Syrian (who by the way speaks the language, knows the history and the culture and is actually experiencing what is happening) do we see? Would none be a good guess?
And why?
Because we can't 'trust' what a 'native' says.
Like I said, a VERY 19th Century view of the world.
Colonialist. Racist. And very much still in place. Mr. Tobar, with 3 billion smart phones in 3 billion hands around the world, I think it is time you started to rethink what journalism means in the 21st Century. Not the 19th.
7
Thanks for that, it is a VERY accurate observation, I could back you up with facts.
1
I graduated from the University of Oregon journalism school many years ago, and I still remember with great fondness the dedicated teachers there who passed on the integrity and commitment to justice that drives the best reporting. Mr. Tobar seems to be carrying on that tradition.
Mr Tobar I think is nice, but his own success is preventing him from experiencing what many journalists are going through.
So here a few more ideas: from a freelance journalist of about 25-30 years: avoid marriage unless you have an agreement with your partner that states in big bold script:
1) I am married to my job, I love it, I write at all times, and I don't like to put my feet up and relax in Cancun for 2 weeks. Everything is a story. My job is me, When I am on the road fetching stories I am NOT on vacation, when I come home from them I am not there to spend 3 days in intimacy or washing the dishes, but rather to get the story written and to the editor. Darling, you will be seeing my back, do not talk to me while I am writing.
2) Get used to people stealing your stuff, including editors, who think your story is good, editors who are in the pockets of advertisers, editors who NEVER answer their emails, because they are "overworked"... Expect lowest pay, etc...
3) Make sure you have another leg to stand on. Translation, editing, proofreading, copywriting (a special skill, watch out, not everyone can do it), teaching, dishwashing, cleaning stables, whatever.
I could go on and on, but I have a story to write.
So here a few more ideas: from a freelance journalist of about 25-30 years: avoid marriage unless you have an agreement with your partner that states in big bold script:
1) I am married to my job, I love it, I write at all times, and I don't like to put my feet up and relax in Cancun for 2 weeks. Everything is a story. My job is me, When I am on the road fetching stories I am NOT on vacation, when I come home from them I am not there to spend 3 days in intimacy or washing the dishes, but rather to get the story written and to the editor. Darling, you will be seeing my back, do not talk to me while I am writing.
2) Get used to people stealing your stuff, including editors, who think your story is good, editors who are in the pockets of advertisers, editors who NEVER answer their emails, because they are "overworked"... Expect lowest pay, etc...
3) Make sure you have another leg to stand on. Translation, editing, proofreading, copywriting (a special skill, watch out, not everyone can do it), teaching, dishwashing, cleaning stables, whatever.
I could go on and on, but I have a story to write.
3
If you don't do it for money (because there is none) or name recognition (because we can't all be NYT reporters), journalism is a field that will enrich your life in many ways and give you many skills.
It will also be stressful, carry a steep learning curve, make you a target for every nutcase and does not guarantee that your own newspaper will not treat you like crap or throw you under the bus. I would say do it while you're young but leave before you get jaded or addicted to one substance or another.
It will also be stressful, carry a steep learning curve, make you a target for every nutcase and does not guarantee that your own newspaper will not treat you like crap or throw you under the bus. I would say do it while you're young but leave before you get jaded or addicted to one substance or another.
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." Thomas Jefferson.
I've been a reporter for 30+ years and know that I've shaped events in my community and state, hopefully for the better, by reporting honestly and accurately what public officials are doing in the open and behind closed doors. There isn't a better jolt than sitting down to a computer and knowing you've got a story in your notebook that is going to have your readers spewing their coffee in indignation when they read it. I also teach news writing and it is saddening to see how little interest I see in my college students in the larger world and breaking news. They all want to be film editors or make videos. Ask them who Edward Snowden is and look at all the blank faces......
Four months ago I moved halfway across the country, from IA to CT, for a journalism gig at a local newspaper in a wealthy community.
I recently did a 2-hour long interview with the mother of a homeless family after working hard to gain their trust, and then got a call two hours later from her, crying, saying she loved being able to tell someone her story but was terrified of "the media." She told me "Silvia, you'll go on and get your Pullitzer and that's all good for you but for me, I could have my child taken away from me." Her child was going to public high school while they were living out of a van. Her phone call really shook me. I went to the newsroom bathroom and cried. She reminded me of the incredible power I had as a journalist to affect change and also of the representation of media right now. It scared me to be associated under the broad umbrella of " the media," which can also include the biased, sensationalist material that she knows.
Hector Tobar easily could have been quoting me and not Bach for this article. I've told my roommates and new friends, most of whom work in the financial sector, that I have the best job in the world (they thought I was being sarcastic). I love it because I get to write and get paid for it. I love it because I get to learn about different ways of living. And I love it because of the incredible responsibility I feel entrusted in me every time I hear someone's story.
I recently did a 2-hour long interview with the mother of a homeless family after working hard to gain their trust, and then got a call two hours later from her, crying, saying she loved being able to tell someone her story but was terrified of "the media." She told me "Silvia, you'll go on and get your Pullitzer and that's all good for you but for me, I could have my child taken away from me." Her child was going to public high school while they were living out of a van. Her phone call really shook me. I went to the newsroom bathroom and cried. She reminded me of the incredible power I had as a journalist to affect change and also of the representation of media right now. It scared me to be associated under the broad umbrella of " the media," which can also include the biased, sensationalist material that she knows.
Hector Tobar easily could have been quoting me and not Bach for this article. I've told my roommates and new friends, most of whom work in the financial sector, that I have the best job in the world (they thought I was being sarcastic). I love it because I get to write and get paid for it. I love it because I get to learn about different ways of living. And I love it because of the incredible responsibility I feel entrusted in me every time I hear someone's story.
1
KILL THE MESSENGER
I'm trying to get my mind around the notion that reports in the USA are regularly sacrificing their lives for their jobs. It is not enough that the slaughter in the streets of over 33,000 per year and gunshot injuries to over 900,000 tell how much blood is running in the streets.
Why is it that 25% of the NRA membership who oppose gun safety laws are able to hold the entire country hostage? Where is the justice in that? Are we going back to the law of the Wild West, where the person with the quickest draw rules?
I guess what reporters will have to do is to hope that observers will start taping their interviews so that it will increase the changes of their killers being caught and punished.
We're not talking about the bloody slaughter of unarmed people by the police. We're talking about reporters who are covering stories.
The end of Ruben Espinosa is especially horrifying, because he was silenced by the forces of evil that rule in his country. Ironically, he shares a last name with a famous philosopher (who spelled it differently), Spinoza, who believed that God and nature are the same. I wonder what he would make of the carnage that we routinely witness in our society?
I'm trying to get my mind around the notion that reports in the USA are regularly sacrificing their lives for their jobs. It is not enough that the slaughter in the streets of over 33,000 per year and gunshot injuries to over 900,000 tell how much blood is running in the streets.
Why is it that 25% of the NRA membership who oppose gun safety laws are able to hold the entire country hostage? Where is the justice in that? Are we going back to the law of the Wild West, where the person with the quickest draw rules?
I guess what reporters will have to do is to hope that observers will start taping their interviews so that it will increase the changes of their killers being caught and punished.
We're not talking about the bloody slaughter of unarmed people by the police. We're talking about reporters who are covering stories.
The end of Ruben Espinosa is especially horrifying, because he was silenced by the forces of evil that rule in his country. Ironically, he shares a last name with a famous philosopher (who spelled it differently), Spinoza, who believed that God and nature are the same. I wonder what he would make of the carnage that we routinely witness in our society?
I admire the dedication of these young journalists. They don't do it for the money, but that is something that entrepreneurs, nurses, aid workers, higher ed professionals all face. I always tell my students, do what you love and build your life around that. If all of the negativity continues to discourage journalists, then where are we as a nation?
1
What is the biggest story in the World right now? Climate change and the threat to our very survival. Who is writing about it? Very few journalists.Why that is the case, I would really like to know.
The news today is trusted even less than is Congress!
What type of journalism focuses 95% of it's health care coverage on the insurance, at a time when the quality of our healthcare is below that of other nations, while it's cost is higher?
What type of journalism focuses 95% of it's discussion of income inequality on increasing the minimum wage, which is counter productive? What are the other causes of income inequality?
What type of journalism focuses 95% of it's discussion of our national violence on the guns, while avoiding significant discussion of why our citizens who've responsibly owned guns for centuries, now use them to commit daily mayhem?
Very significantly; what type of journalism can daily remind us of what's wrong in the nation, without offering significant opinion of causes and cures?
Thomas Jefferson, in 1787, stated that he'd rather have a nation with newspapers, and no government, than to have a nation with government, and no newspapers. I doubt he'd make such statement today!
What type of journalism focuses 95% of it's health care coverage on the insurance, at a time when the quality of our healthcare is below that of other nations, while it's cost is higher?
What type of journalism focuses 95% of it's discussion of income inequality on increasing the minimum wage, which is counter productive? What are the other causes of income inequality?
What type of journalism focuses 95% of it's discussion of our national violence on the guns, while avoiding significant discussion of why our citizens who've responsibly owned guns for centuries, now use them to commit daily mayhem?
Very significantly; what type of journalism can daily remind us of what's wrong in the nation, without offering significant opinion of causes and cures?
Thomas Jefferson, in 1787, stated that he'd rather have a nation with newspapers, and no government, than to have a nation with government, and no newspapers. I doubt he'd make such statement today!
Being a journalist used to be a trade off of modest pay and working conditions for the chance to pursue a significant calling. Today, with ad revenue down at newspapers and tv stations, staffs and salaries have been cut drastically. As a result, journalism is not a viable career. It will not sustain even a cut rate lifestyle and would not support a family. It just doesn't work as a career anymore, even for the most enthusiastic.
2
A few years back, my son's college roommate landed a summer job at the Hartford Courant. In an effort to help, I emailed a journalist who worked there and who I'd (sort of) gotten to know through various things I'd written over the years that she had commented on or reviewed. I asked whether she'd look out for the kid. She replied: "Glad to – if you or he can answer one question for me: "Why does he want to be a journalist? I have an excuse; I'm older, and thus didn't know any better. He's coming in with his eyes open."
I accepted her points. Even so, it seemed inappropriate for her even to ask that question. Whether it makes economic sense or not, one wants to become a journalist because it's difficult or impossible to think of a more noble and important profession. You choose it, and then you figure out a way to make it work out economically.
A postscript: My son's college roommate is still in journalism, six years later. Not sure he's made it work economically, but I'm pretty sure he has no regrets about his choice.
I accepted her points. Even so, it seemed inappropriate for her even to ask that question. Whether it makes economic sense or not, one wants to become a journalist because it's difficult or impossible to think of a more noble and important profession. You choose it, and then you figure out a way to make it work out economically.
A postscript: My son's college roommate is still in journalism, six years later. Not sure he's made it work economically, but I'm pretty sure he has no regrets about his choice.
Mass media has been a great experiment. One might fervently share these ideals, yet clearly, new models are needed.
The secret of your success lies in courting the Press. If you want to be recognized as a fashion designer swan, be serious with a light feathered touch and gracious during an interview. Even during the most dire of circumstances, if you are stumped by a question that does not make sense, take a pause to reflect with an ambivalent smile.
Know your journalists. Years ago in an investment banking firm where I was acting as a 'gate-keeper', one clever free-lance journalist from a little town in Nebraska managed to slip through the office guards, and a few days later I received an early call on a Monday morning from my neighbor next door. 'You're in the New York Times' to which I replied 'not now, this is not the time for jests, I am going to be late for work'.
But on my route to the office, I began to feel slightly uneasy and decided I had better check the paper. Where? In those days the highlight was the Crossword Puzzle at lunch. Where would my boss be mentioned, I wondered, if this is a true story, he reads the Times first at home. And there at the top of the editorial section was a farcical article poking fun at my boss by the mild-mannered man, who had called a few days before.
Now. Today I was thinking of a childhood friend, a young promising journalist at 22, he is prominent today world-wide in finance and economics. His tone is moderate, kindly and he makes one feel at home, and I believe he is welcomed wherever he goes. A rarity these days but possible.
Know your journalists. Years ago in an investment banking firm where I was acting as a 'gate-keeper', one clever free-lance journalist from a little town in Nebraska managed to slip through the office guards, and a few days later I received an early call on a Monday morning from my neighbor next door. 'You're in the New York Times' to which I replied 'not now, this is not the time for jests, I am going to be late for work'.
But on my route to the office, I began to feel slightly uneasy and decided I had better check the paper. Where? In those days the highlight was the Crossword Puzzle at lunch. Where would my boss be mentioned, I wondered, if this is a true story, he reads the Times first at home. And there at the top of the editorial section was a farcical article poking fun at my boss by the mild-mannered man, who had called a few days before.
Now. Today I was thinking of a childhood friend, a young promising journalist at 22, he is prominent today world-wide in finance and economics. His tone is moderate, kindly and he makes one feel at home, and I believe he is welcomed wherever he goes. A rarity these days but possible.
Many comments (including mine) seem to say the same thing, but the sequence is different. Some say "Journalism doesn't pay the bills, but it sure is a noble profession." Others say "Journalism is a noble profession, but it sure doesn't pay the bills."
Both sets of comments makes sense. Which set one chooses probably depends -- unfortunately -- on whether an aspiring journalist has some other way of paying the bills.
Both sets of comments makes sense. Which set one chooses probably depends -- unfortunately -- on whether an aspiring journalist has some other way of paying the bills.
Kudos to Mr. Bach for his altruistic decision to pursue a calling as truth-teller, Watcher of The Watchers, voice of the vulnerable, and guardian of democracy.
His is a steep challenge in a landscape where powerful individuals, foundations, and interests have mapped, captured, and retooled critical niches of journalistic germination as a means to scale up systematic truth production, and eliminate a burdensome back-end strategy.
As traditional modes of media increasingly acquiesce to prescriptive storytelling, and journalism schools follow directives (via grant funding guidelines) to train students as practitioners in this new brand of predetermined story lines—the underpinnings of our collective consciousness and catalyst for a call to action—frank truth and reality, will be evermore difficult to find.
The hope is that rapid technological innovation, variation, and accessibility will spawn a new journalism movement that is both resilient and independent, and proficiently informs the public in ways that generate discourse and collective action.
His is a steep challenge in a landscape where powerful individuals, foundations, and interests have mapped, captured, and retooled critical niches of journalistic germination as a means to scale up systematic truth production, and eliminate a burdensome back-end strategy.
As traditional modes of media increasingly acquiesce to prescriptive storytelling, and journalism schools follow directives (via grant funding guidelines) to train students as practitioners in this new brand of predetermined story lines—the underpinnings of our collective consciousness and catalyst for a call to action—frank truth and reality, will be evermore difficult to find.
The hope is that rapid technological innovation, variation, and accessibility will spawn a new journalism movement that is both resilient and independent, and proficiently informs the public in ways that generate discourse and collective action.
While I'm grateful for Mr. Tobar's defense of the profession, I'd like to inject a note of realism.
I spent about a decade writing for newspapers. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. (Well, most of them.)
But the last of them was 14 years ago. Thank goodness something else came along. The gloom is real and pervasive, and one can't simply brush off the burgeoning issues. Idealism may feed the soul, but it doesn't pay the bills and an aspiring journalist poorly acquainted with the demands of the real world may be in for a very rude awakening.
I spent about a decade writing for newspapers. I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. (Well, most of them.)
But the last of them was 14 years ago. Thank goodness something else came along. The gloom is real and pervasive, and one can't simply brush off the burgeoning issues. Idealism may feed the soul, but it doesn't pay the bills and an aspiring journalist poorly acquainted with the demands of the real world may be in for a very rude awakening.
16
A lot of the gloom in newsrooms is self inflicted. As a kind of goad to management or just an infection of general doom, reporters began writing "the end is near" stories about 15 yrs. ago. So many were written, coupled with cutbacks, that it did seem, indeed, that the end was coming. Plus, these stories were mixed in with ones about the Tribune Company disaster, which had very little to do with the downturn in business generally.
While I am all in favor of robust employment of reporters and editors, the reporters who made it into their second decade (after the first ten yrs.) at major newspapers like the Washington Post, the NY Times, the LA Times and other big city papers had a golden ride for a very, very long time. Some senior reporters kind of went on scholarship programs within their own papers, turning out, maybe, a story a month or so. Once someone had knocked about and done a number of years of heavy grunt work, many graduated to something far different. The current situation looks so bad because so many of them had it so good.
Newspapers are cutting the wrong thing when they cut back on reporters, because the biggest costs have nothing to do with their pay or expense accounts. The biggest portion of major newspaper's operations go to printing and distribution. They can't cut back on that much more because the printing and distribution are what the advertisers are paying to get. This will change in the future. A new magic inflection point lies ahead...somewhere.
While I am all in favor of robust employment of reporters and editors, the reporters who made it into their second decade (after the first ten yrs.) at major newspapers like the Washington Post, the NY Times, the LA Times and other big city papers had a golden ride for a very, very long time. Some senior reporters kind of went on scholarship programs within their own papers, turning out, maybe, a story a month or so. Once someone had knocked about and done a number of years of heavy grunt work, many graduated to something far different. The current situation looks so bad because so many of them had it so good.
Newspapers are cutting the wrong thing when they cut back on reporters, because the biggest costs have nothing to do with their pay or expense accounts. The biggest portion of major newspaper's operations go to printing and distribution. They can't cut back on that much more because the printing and distribution are what the advertisers are paying to get. This will change in the future. A new magic inflection point lies ahead...somewhere.
The last paragraph should be a needlepoint in every newsroom.
3
It takes a level of dedication few can muster not only to choose journalism as a career but to stick with it. Newspaper reporter has made the top 10 of Worst Jobs in America for some years now; broadcast reporter joined the ranks about two years ago. Newspaper reporter also has the dubious distinction of being the lowest-paying job that requires a bachelors degree.
Worse, those who own news outlets themselves do not value their staffs. In New Hampshire there is a competition among newspaper groups to see who can go the longest between raises. The current record is 11 years between raises, but many are now a the 8 year mark. They expect turnover, and they usually get it.
As a journalist what I find most depressing is that with the degradation of news quality on cable television and in the blogsphere your dedication to accuracy, ethics and fairness have no value even to readers. People can tell bald lies that are easily disproved and get away with it.
A reporter who questioned Senate candidate Scott Brown's poor grasp of state geography was fired for his effrontery. He forgot news is now entertainment and you shouldn't embarrass your guests if you expect them to come on your show in the future.
Worse, those who own news outlets themselves do not value their staffs. In New Hampshire there is a competition among newspaper groups to see who can go the longest between raises. The current record is 11 years between raises, but many are now a the 8 year mark. They expect turnover, and they usually get it.
As a journalist what I find most depressing is that with the degradation of news quality on cable television and in the blogsphere your dedication to accuracy, ethics and fairness have no value even to readers. People can tell bald lies that are easily disproved and get away with it.
A reporter who questioned Senate candidate Scott Brown's poor grasp of state geography was fired for his effrontery. He forgot news is now entertainment and you shouldn't embarrass your guests if you expect them to come on your show in the future.
14
Honestly, though, a Senator's knowledge of state geography does seem to be the more useless sort of ''Gotcha!'' questions. Had the state unemployment rate and average cost of taxation already been discussed?
A reporter who descends to asking geography questions is obviously out of useful things to ask and should have come with more ammo;
A reporter who descends to asking geography questions is obviously out of useful things to ask and should have come with more ammo;
And who would like to cash in on their journalist past to earn a lot of money working for a PR firm?
1
Jeff, I'm a former journalist in the midst of a career change into speech-language pathology. I wouldn't go into PR for $200K if I had the opportunity.
Some journalists can make the shift into PR, but many of us don't have the personality for it. (We're dour people who wear our shirts with stains on them -- and we like it that way.) :;
But nice of you to think of a solution for us.
Some journalists can make the shift into PR, but many of us don't have the personality for it. (We're dour people who wear our shirts with stains on them -- and we like it that way.) :;
But nice of you to think of a solution for us.
Jonathan Bach is on the road to being a full-fledged journalist. This is a young man with courage and passion. He will need them both to survive in this highly competitive field.
As a freelance journalist for 26 years, I found it was not always an easy road. It did not pay well. But Bach, whether he is on staff or a freelancer, will find the rewards are great in the people he meets, the stories he can convey to the world and the friendships that he will form, just as I did. Bach's schooling has given him the training and discipline required.
More than that, Bach must have the determination to carry through, despite setbacks in getting the story and making the connections. Coupled with genuine empathy for your subject is the objectivity to spot the inconsistencies in the information you are given. Bach will have to really listen for the clues, the tells, that fill out the story that will allow him to report the truth. Otherwise the story becomes an opinion piece or a public relations device.
I found that the most important thing is to always have curiosity. It's what gets you interested in a story in the beginning. It will carry you through all the road bumps to the publication of your work. Curiosity. That is the key to everything.
Good luck, Mr. Bach.
As a freelance journalist for 26 years, I found it was not always an easy road. It did not pay well. But Bach, whether he is on staff or a freelancer, will find the rewards are great in the people he meets, the stories he can convey to the world and the friendships that he will form, just as I did. Bach's schooling has given him the training and discipline required.
More than that, Bach must have the determination to carry through, despite setbacks in getting the story and making the connections. Coupled with genuine empathy for your subject is the objectivity to spot the inconsistencies in the information you are given. Bach will have to really listen for the clues, the tells, that fill out the story that will allow him to report the truth. Otherwise the story becomes an opinion piece or a public relations device.
I found that the most important thing is to always have curiosity. It's what gets you interested in a story in the beginning. It will carry you through all the road bumps to the publication of your work. Curiosity. That is the key to everything.
Good luck, Mr. Bach.
7
Death threats used to amuse me. Then 2.5 years ago a perp tried to carry out a contract on me. He missed. He also missed his second target a few counties away. On a repeat for the second contract, he killed someone not connected to the contract and did not kill the man he was hired to kill.
I still get threats, most recently threats to have my job because of a wedding ceremony I officiated. Folks 'roun here will have "splodey heads" when I publish a same-gender wedding announcement.
I still get threats, most recently threats to have my job because of a wedding ceremony I officiated. Folks 'roun here will have "splodey heads" when I publish a same-gender wedding announcement.
5
Nothing is more vital to our society's sustainability than our freedom of speech and a free press.
The current crop of elected officials proves that democracy has some weak points in which an absolutely devoted, very well funded, and superbly executed plan can allow an extremist minority to temporarily impose its will on a lethargic majority.
No better antidote to that than our free press. This will invigorate the masses to get out and vote in the upcoming primary elections where the extremists gained their footholds and eliminated them from their positions of power.
We have a challenge, with the various web changes undermining the very solid cash flow that the traditional media had enjoyed for generations. We saw long trusted friends dumped onto the streets and no longer able to provide the excellent reporting that we had become dependent upon.
Journalism is a calling and a vary important and rewarding one. It simply has a compensation challenge. One alternative to improve reporters cash flow is for them to write novels.
One former journalist who has thrived as a novelist is Daniel Silva, who started as a UPI correspondent.
Gina Kolata shares her exceptional knowledge of health and wellness in ebooks which are promoted in full page ads in the NYTimes.
Obviously, the barriers to entry on getting published have been virtually eliminated with ebook publishing.
After all, it is a calling, not a path to riches.
The current crop of elected officials proves that democracy has some weak points in which an absolutely devoted, very well funded, and superbly executed plan can allow an extremist minority to temporarily impose its will on a lethargic majority.
No better antidote to that than our free press. This will invigorate the masses to get out and vote in the upcoming primary elections where the extremists gained their footholds and eliminated them from their positions of power.
We have a challenge, with the various web changes undermining the very solid cash flow that the traditional media had enjoyed for generations. We saw long trusted friends dumped onto the streets and no longer able to provide the excellent reporting that we had become dependent upon.
Journalism is a calling and a vary important and rewarding one. It simply has a compensation challenge. One alternative to improve reporters cash flow is for them to write novels.
One former journalist who has thrived as a novelist is Daniel Silva, who started as a UPI correspondent.
Gina Kolata shares her exceptional knowledge of health and wellness in ebooks which are promoted in full page ads in the NYTimes.
Obviously, the barriers to entry on getting published have been virtually eliminated with ebook publishing.
After all, it is a calling, not a path to riches.
8
The challenge I see is that, while news organizations keep saying that the Web is the future, their websites are horrible.
There is nothing that could reasonably be called "page design" and there is often an hysterical call for readers to submit "content" from minor news stories. So you get galleries of photos of people's pets dressed in sports colors around playoff time or of people's ugly Christmas sweaters.
Also, I don't get the feeling that anyone is actually EDITING news web sites. I'm looking at the Kansas City Star website (the Royals play in under an hour) and the top story is about neopolitan pizza places. The Toronto Sun is a mess of photos with headlines laid over them.
I don't know that the people in charge of newspapers understand the web or their readers.
There is nothing that could reasonably be called "page design" and there is often an hysterical call for readers to submit "content" from minor news stories. So you get galleries of photos of people's pets dressed in sports colors around playoff time or of people's ugly Christmas sweaters.
Also, I don't get the feeling that anyone is actually EDITING news web sites. I'm looking at the Kansas City Star website (the Royals play in under an hour) and the top story is about neopolitan pizza places. The Toronto Sun is a mess of photos with headlines laid over them.
I don't know that the people in charge of newspapers understand the web or their readers.
6
When a news site loads more than 300 ad-tracker cookies on your computer when you simply click on their site one time is not really in the news business any more but is just another internet cash-cow.
1
After a decade in the business as an "ink stained wretch" at a couple major dailies, I called it quits and high tailed for high tech in the mid 90's, just in time for the Web. Newspapers were already seeing a decline in readership, and that was when they still owned local advertising monopolies! I'm very happy I made that choice 20 years ago, and wouldn't wish the reporter life style on anyone. But, guess I'm glad that someone is drawn to it, otherwise we'd much worse off as a society.
3
Like many here, I am a journalist – and also human. Many of us do our very best. And yes, many are in this industry for the wrong reasons and hurt our reputations. The same can be said of Wall Street, government, law, medicine and more. Journalism is the backbone of how we learn about our world and our public affairs. I find it naïve for readers here to make these sweeping declarations about our profession, what our goals are, how bad we are, and the like - and how much we get wrong. I have been undercover in the Syria, detained by the military in Turkey, told stories of Armenians in Azerbaijan while police followed me and bugged my hotel room -- I did this all because I believed that stories I had to tell mattered. I encourage the people who sit in front of their TV and lament the woes of the world to join me on the road, then come back and "get it just right" to a standard that everyone agrees with. Despite our mistakes and our warts, and our many bad actors, the journalists as a whole save us directly or indirectly every day from tyranny, from corruption, from threats to our food, our environment, our government, and more. I applaud my fellow journalists in tv, film, radio and web outlets. We can’t listen to the naysayers. I think I am getting the quote right from the guy -- forgive them lord for they know not what they do. I am not religious, but it's a great quote. I can’t verify the source though; perhaps I am not a good journalist after all.
17
You are as good as it gets and an inspiration to others in your capacity as a vocational journalist. We need more with your courage to take chances and give us testimonies with a broad scope and remind us that it's a big world out there. All branches of journalist are linked together and professionals of your kind, willing to place their lives on the line, bring us back to the Human Condition.
"...journalists as a whole save us directly or indirectly every day from tyranny, from corruption, from threats to our food, our environment, our government, and more."
When will those arrive here in Washington DC?
When will those arrive here in Washington DC?
It's good to hear your side and I'm sure most of us recognize and appreciate good journalism when we see it - but it doesn't discount the other side. I see too much misinformation and many lies that are never corrected. Your profession as a whole should be demanding better and reestablishing standards.
Minimum wage for the young writer? Some things never change. How anyone in their right mind would advise a student to go into journalism, especially today, is criminal. Lousy pay, high stress, lousy hours. Other than that, good job. Be a hedge fund manager then start your own publication and pay the writers minimum wage.
6
I laugh every time I see someone fretting about people "advising" students to go into journalism, because when I decided to become a journalism major eight years ago all I heard was a constant barrage of people telling me I was going into a dying profession where I would make no money. I chose it anyway, however, because the variety the job presented and the skill set needed were a perfect fit for me and I was passionate about it. Four and a half years after graduation I'm making enough to support myself (albeit modestly), I love my job, and the sometimes erratic hours are fine for my single twentysomething lifestyle. My choice is working for me. When I'm 35 with kids I might feel differently, but I feel comfortable that by then I will have built up a network and skill set that will allow me to transition to a cushier job in PR, consulting, government, etc.
This is lovely and inspiring, and I wish Mr. Bach and his colleagues all the best in their pursuits. But the reality of paltry pay in journalism results in only the privileged having access to the field, which deeply impacts which stories get told and how they are conveyed. J-school grads who are saddled with tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt -- i.e. those who must fully fend for themselves and don't have family money to fall back on -- generally do not have the luxury of "dropping into a country for a week" as a freelancer.
16
If you're looking for a field where you can be employed at 50, forget journalism.
15
Journalism continues to lose prestige as a result of unprofessional behavior by its most visible practitioners. Reporters don't assess the veracity of what they report, often because they lack basic knowledge of science and statistics, and even more often because it is too difficult to get another source to provide verification. They are in competition with gossips from the Twitter-verse, with celebrity op-ed writers, and with surgically-enhanced entertainers from cable news.
7
Although true that we have some doubts, at times even scorn, for some journalists well positioned and likely with a good salary and safety as well (Fox Noise comes to mind, where poorly investigated news may be mixed with biased opinions of pseudo-facts), there are many more that are hard-working, altruistic even, in the face of danger, reporting news we must know and appreciate, so to make sense of the upside down world we live in. The will and courage to inform, knowing the treacherous road ahead of them, is nothing short of heroic, no doubt their pleasure in a job well done.
1
Nice story but it is not about the state of US journalism today which has many serious issues it is barely addressing. Just read the Time's public editor's column where criticism no matter how true is batted aside by evasive invalidating editors who clearly have no interest in owning or addressing issues.
4
Christopher Hitchens used to recall that writing is not what he does, its who he is.
Perhaps that's the point here.
@otherminds
Perhaps that's the point here.
@otherminds
4
I am not in favor of women journalists traveling to violent parts of the world where they can get captured or hurt. Ditto for male journalists. I already know what goes on in those places, and don't need anybody's help in confirming what I know. For that, I have my imagination. Journalists traveling to dangerous places are hereby informed that if they get captured or hurt, their children and their families won't be getting any help from
me.
me.
1
It was a great privilege for many of us in the humanitarian community to work for a quiet well-traveled journalist, a twinkle in his eye and yet serious, a reminder to all of us to lighten up in the darkest of historical times, having saves many lives in dangerous war zones, he was to write 'The Sparrows of Saigon', a testimony to children left forgotten in Vietnam. Years later as he lay dying of a long illness, he wrote to this secretary, one of many through his vocational career that he was sorry to hear of the death of my husband. In the midst of tears, one day you will listen to music, you will remember with some joy in your heart that nothing essential has been lost. With flowers for Mr. Jacques Danois.
I hope the writer is tenured. Unfortunately, because the de-skilling of higher education, where faculty have been turned into part-time pieceworkers (except on the business and engineering halls) most journalism majors today are taught and advised by adjuncts. They can work from semester to semester, with notice as brief as a few weeks that they will or will not have a class or a paper to advise, with the clear message that they can be let go if the student paper ruffles any feathers - in the administration, among donors, in student government, or on fraternity row. Student editors can find the newspaper de-funded, with their own scholarships pulled and intense pressure to transfer.
5
I'm glad you are training curious, enthusiastic young journalists, Hector, and I'm certain they are well-served by your vast experiences and commitment to high-quality journalism and story-telling. I'd suggest warning them, as well, to be prepared for newsrooms that can border on toxic these days, with editors-turned-managers looking to single out who'll be in the next, seemingly inevitable round of layoffs. This, of course, does not help grow quality journalism. Yet every day, journalists give it their best because they are in love with what they do and strive to do it well. Naysayers don't realize that we connect to communities and people and that's what matters most. We are not like the blob of pack-journalists you see on TV chasing down newsmakers. A good journalist must be sincere, concerned about creating well-rounded, accurate stories and have plenty of empathy. I've written quite a bit about mental wellness, and sources seek me out to "put the human face" on stories that go beyond policy-making -- effecting real people, real lives, real struggles and, we hope, real progress. You make the excellent point: It's empathy, not swagger, is the better hallmark of a good, solid journalist.
12
As a journalist (reporter and editor) and journalism prof, I can proudly say that honest journalism is what keeps Americans free. Without freedom of speech and of the press, we'd be doomed.
33
this is great ! Let's hope it gets widely reposted by places like Huffington Post.
3
Journalists have the opportunity to speak truth to power and effect real change by doing so. A single well researched story can result in more change than years of courtroom battles or legislative wrangling. Those who think good journalism is dead should visit the Pulitzer Prize website, which has links to the winning stories and columns as well as the finalists. It's the best reading out there. Despite the best efforts of corporate bean counters, we aren't finished yet.
7
Today is October 20, 2015.
We haven't had a journalist in America in over a decade.
I defy anyone to name one credible, decent journalist in America. As a lawyer in Washington DC, working on Capitol Hill, I see what passes for a news media in this country, up close, and personal.
Integrity, decency, selflessness, sacrifice, public service. Those are the virtues of a journalist. Nobody in America who works for a news organization has those. Not one person.
Until that changes, that young college graduate is chasing windmills.
We haven't had a journalist in America in over a decade.
I defy anyone to name one credible, decent journalist in America. As a lawyer in Washington DC, working on Capitol Hill, I see what passes for a news media in this country, up close, and personal.
Integrity, decency, selflessness, sacrifice, public service. Those are the virtues of a journalist. Nobody in America who works for a news organization has those. Not one person.
Until that changes, that young college graduate is chasing windmills.
9
Somewhere in America, somebody is saying, "I defy anyone to name one credible, decent lawyer in Washington, D.C." That's silly, too.
4
Says a lawyer.
6
Well James, that's usually what happens right before my phone rings.
2
By the time America realizes what journalists really are worth, it will be too late. The fact that some young people still are called to serve despite all the hardships and dangers is reassuring. It is happening around the world. One organization encouraging and developing those committed tor reporting the truth is Youth Journalism International. http://youthjournalism.org
24
It already is too late, by 25 years. The 1990s were the cliff's edge. This sorry state of the U.S. press began after Watergate, ironically, and was known to journalists of every stripe in the 1980s. Washington politicians and insiders putting blowback pressure on their golf buddies who owned media corporations? Yes, partly. But newspaper journalism also kicked back… at just the wrong pivot moment. By 1980, America was riding the Ronald Reagan wave embraced by the press and Democrats alike. The 1980s were all-cable news all the time, an industry quickly falling to earth in the 1990s and now in tatters, eclipsed by the greed of media owners ignoring the internet industry as competition, refused to plow money into newsroom operations until it was too late. And it is. Content is not the same as news. Forcing journalists to compromise ethics and integrity to shill for synergistic corporate products doesn't build confidence in a cynical public. The press in America is corporate owned, corporate run and with an eye to the bottom line. That's why the pay stinks, except at the major national papers and then for the mostly well-compensated star bylines. Ditto, local tv and cable. The other half of the equation always has been the casual disregard and contempt for the press from American citizens due to the post-war turbulent 1950s/1960s civil rights and then Vietnam conflict. A nation either embraces the daily truths, craving information over entertainment 'n' gossip. Or not.
3
NHK Japan's "The Creative Woman" and France 24 "The 51%" about woman are outstanding programs but such programs could NEVER be made or presented in the U.S.
And the Danish film "Armadillo", made a journalists embedded with Danish troops in Afghanistan, including during firefights with the Taliban, also could NEVER be made by U.S. "journalists."
Programs like Frontline, POV, American Experience, Nature and NOVA are still the gold standard for journalism in America. But how many people actually watch such programs? A tiny minority.
And the Danish film "Armadillo", made a journalists embedded with Danish troops in Afghanistan, including during firefights with the Taliban, also could NEVER be made by U.S. "journalists."
Programs like Frontline, POV, American Experience, Nature and NOVA are still the gold standard for journalism in America. But how many people actually watch such programs? A tiny minority.
10
Journalism is mostly dead.
Most NY Times editorials like the recent one on Morocco sound like they were written by policy wonks at the U.S. State Department, and the only articles I take seriously are the ones written by the NY Times' science writers. The rest are mostly garbage.
And almost every thing in the commercial media (ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC) is lamestream. I watch only France 24 and Deutsche Welle from time to time.
Most NY Times editorials like the recent one on Morocco sound like they were written by policy wonks at the U.S. State Department, and the only articles I take seriously are the ones written by the NY Times' science writers. The rest are mostly garbage.
And almost every thing in the commercial media (ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC) is lamestream. I watch only France 24 and Deutsche Welle from time to time.
5
As a former news assignment editor at CBS News I can relate to the sacrifice journalists endure on the battlefields and in everyday countless disasters. But what is sorely missing and critically needed is uncovering everyday corruption in our city halls and police departments. I recall Bob Kieve, long-time owner of all-news KLIV, San Jose, telling me as news director in Rochester, New York, "Your newscasts are sounding like a police blotter," and he was right. That was a wakeup call to get to the news the police and the mayor were not telling our newsroom. It's not necessary that we journalists are liked, only that we are respected.
27
Except that : Now days in the same newspaper story a writer gets east and west of a town wrong twice. The level of precision in journalism is gone. Most people in general do not know geography and history coming out of college. Young journalists may mean well, but the amount of errors I read these days is telling. And, when Tom Brokaw writes "The Greatest Generation" I'd say the level of pretension is pretty high all around. Since the early 70's we have been living trough the self-deification of journalists, some, obviously not all. It is nauseating.
6
The final nail in the press coffin has been the sorry state of U.S. education. During a sabbatical, I taught graduating college seniors - all journalism majors. Good god, how depressing. Many has zero curiosity about the world, did not read a paper or even watch the news, had no knowledge of media history in America. Many also could not read and write with a 9th grade proficiency. Most did not want to. I was forced to be the bearer of bad news: it is a profession predicated on reading, at the very least, with some writing - even if setting one's course on what passes for cable news. Each semester, I had 2 out of 25 students who actually belonged in the profession, came equipped with the intellect, discipline and a bright burning love of the news business, which cannot be taught and can only be stoked. Those flames, however, can be extinguished even among the best and brightest - and often are by the time journalists have been in the profession for a decade or two, stressed by an inability to make car and mortgage payments, consumed with constant layoffs and knowing they will have difficulty sending their one or two kids to a mediocre state college. The industry ought be mortified how many voices have been silenced of smart, talented female journos who reluctantly left newsrooms in their early 40s just to pay the bills.
4
Journalists, as Economists have done will learn to write what earns. If you want to write truth or talk to power then be prepared to wait tables for most of your life. The media are hyper consolidated, and to the degree that they are consolidated, they are also in step with the powers that be. In this context the only opinion, which counts is the K Street Consensus, and as we have seen with PBS and the Koch's, news outlets of the quality of the Mcneil Lehrer report are today quickly reduced to sycophancy in order to stay relevant.
I get a real kick out of watching PBS Margaret Warner who doubles as a journalist and member of the Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations as she interprets the necessity for the Pax Americana to remain muscular in the place of actual government officials, who should be doing their own explaining.
I get a real kick out of watching PBS Margaret Warner who doubles as a journalist and member of the Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations as she interprets the necessity for the Pax Americana to remain muscular in the place of actual government officials, who should be doing their own explaining.
5
Thank you, Hector Tobar, for this positive view of the job of a journalist. The issue is to protect the wages and working conditions of those who perform such valuable work.
6
Lets be clear, successful journalism is about creating interesting stories to grab the attention of an audience for advertisers. Interesting trumps all other values. Which is why someone can drop into a country, report a story and get it published. No one really cares whether they got the story right or not, as long as it is interesting to an audience.
3
I know a large number of journalists, at several organizations, who care very much about "whether they got the story right."
7
Unfortunately, views like yours are far from uncommon, and I think your comment exemplifies why we, as a profession, need to better communicate the value of what we do and how indispensable we actually are.
Part of communicating that value is finding a better revenue model in an age when people can get their news for free. People will pay for news if they need it but can't get it anywhere else and have to pay for it.
But we - reporters and editors - need to better distinguish ourselves and our activities from the masses of untrained and unsupervised bloggers, op-ed columnists and TV/radio commentators. In addition, we need to do a better job of ensuring we not just tell the whole story, but that we provide sufficient analysis of the facts to ensure that we're not inadvertently acting as mouthpieces for dishonest people with power and money or ignoring certain perspectives merely because they go against the status quo.
This requires us to be constantly better informed than the rest of the public and also requires better policing of the profession to make sure we're all doing our jobs right.
Part of communicating that value is finding a better revenue model in an age when people can get their news for free. People will pay for news if they need it but can't get it anywhere else and have to pay for it.
But we - reporters and editors - need to better distinguish ourselves and our activities from the masses of untrained and unsupervised bloggers, op-ed columnists and TV/radio commentators. In addition, we need to do a better job of ensuring we not just tell the whole story, but that we provide sufficient analysis of the facts to ensure that we're not inadvertently acting as mouthpieces for dishonest people with power and money or ignoring certain perspectives merely because they go against the status quo.
This requires us to be constantly better informed than the rest of the public and also requires better policing of the profession to make sure we're all doing our jobs right.
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Ross, journalists have always feared getting it wrong. They want to tell it right. That is as it should be. When I entered journalism at the City News Bureau of Chicago, the strictly enforced motto was “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” That kind of rigor will always rule among real journalists. It’s the only way that over the long run a reporter or writer can maintain credibility. The brave young men and women entering journalism today are holding the torch high through dark times. I remain optimistic that the craft of news reporting will persist and ultimately flourish because people need the truth—whether or not they’ve yet realized it.
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