Loyalty and Journalism

Journalists are caught between an interesting dilemma-on one hand, they are professionals trying to earn a paycheck-on the other hand, they are in a profession that are expected to perform in a dignified way that reflects accuracy and loyalty to the public. A diagram presented in class showed that in a communication loyalty model, the journalists are the link between the company and the citizens. It looked something like this:
Shareholders
CEO Managers
Journalist
Citizens
This can make the experience of journalism difficult. Sometimes the desires of these different groups clash. Then what do you do? Do you please those who are obtaining and learning from your material, or do you keep loyalty to those you work for? As mentioned in the discussion, a journalist’s first loyalty is to the citizens; however, those who can balance these two loyalties will be the most successful.
LOYALTY TO THE CITIZENS
Citizens are consumers. Newspapers and news broadcasts should be created for them. This is why a journalist’s first loyalty is to them and why they should focus stories towards informing or entertaining them. Without the citizens, companies and groups would not advertise; evaporating the revenue of the news organization. A statistic in class indicated that 80 percent of journalists listed that making the reader/viewer/listener the first obligation of journalists. Most journalists are on board in this thought process but there are some that are looking to make money.
It was also mentioned that the New York Times occasionally cuts out advertising so that people can read important speeches or recordings of events so that the public can be better informed. This is a media institution that understands the journalistic process well. In the short-run a company may lose a little revenue by taking out advertisements occasionally to inform the public, but overall this act gains consumer trust and will bring more readers to a media group such as this. Throughout this presentation, I kept thinking, “If the owner of a company believes deeply in the core journalistic values and is committed to the citizens first, they will be successful.”
LOYALTY TO THE COMPANY
Most people are so anxious to find a job that they will often not realize what their company stands for. I feel an important part of finding a job as a journalist is to find out what the company stands for. It is basically impossible to avoid spin. It is just natural and is going to happen. The spin or biases will likely reflect the views of ownership and those investing in the news organization. If a journalist can find these out beforehand they can work at a place where their work, style, and views align closely to the attributes of the company.
On page 62 of our text it says, “What good is journalism, after all, if it doesn’t sell?” Some people may forget that journalism is a business and those that work there try to make money. At the current time, it may be more difficult than ever to stay loyal to companies or to bosses as many news organizations are making cuts in order to save money in a down economy. A journalist has a responsibility to the company they work for up to a certain point. They should not jeopardize the loyalty of the citizens for good standing in a company.


The Baltimore Sun is a good example of how a company’s balance between the journalists and those that run the company should be. The mention, “the fact that, on journalist decisions, the newsroom has to have the integrity to make the final call.” They have policies written on the wall so that all workers know how to behave and act. It was mentioned in class that, “Journalists who make a case for the public interest inside their companies could be labeled as naïve, old-fashioned, and difficult.” Journalists that put the citizens first may lose some respect within their company. They may even lose jobs or money over high-principled morals. However, if a journalist can stay close to the loyalty of the citizens it will gain more followers and have a better journalistic reputation and ability. To have success between these two conflicting groups (the company and the citizens) it comes down to one word: BALANCE.

Truth and Journalism

Perhaps one of the greatest difficulties in telling a story is drawing in the attention of the audience. If no one will listen, the story and the role of the storyteller are pointless. Many journalists, writers, or storytellers will add exaggerations and puffery to spice up a story just to make a story more readable and desirable. In this communicative process there are two contrasting ideologies fighting each other. The receiver of the message expects the truth and wants to know what happened. The person sending the message wants something that they want to share to be heard. The problem is that many stories can be boring and lack the flash that the receiver desires. This puts a great pressure on the person delivering the message to not only give the facts of the story but also to deliver it in a way that sparks an interest in the reader to follow the message. Let’s face it; most people are not interested in the truth as many want to hear the newest gossip or inside information even if it is not true or totally correct. This makes the job of a journalist difficult as they are being pulled in two opposite directions. However, the most important aspect of any journalist or storyteller is that their audience trusts them. This will keep them coming back to hear or read more stories and the best way to do this is to stay as close to the truth as possible and not add in person bias or additional exaggerations.

                Perhaps overlooked, the words trust and truth go hand-in-hand in the journalism industry. It may not seem like a big deal to lie a little here and stretch the truth a little there, but in the end it can come back to destroy a journalist. A goal for journalists is to get people to read or listen to their work and then get them to come back again. This is why trust is such a huge part of a journalist’s work. As I often follow BYU athletics, I spend some time on message boards to learn the latest insights about the different teams. I often notice that many other fans criticize the work two local journalists that are leaders for their respective papers. Since they often display negative comments towards BYU many fans refuse to read their articles and even shun reading their newspapers all together and seek out other venues to get their news. These two writers have lost the trust of a community of people and not only does it hurt themselves as professionals but it hurts the success of their newspapers. They have lost the trust of the local readers and it will be difficult to gain them back.

                A presentation in class last week greatly demonstrated the role and importance for truth in journalism. It once again showed how trust can be lost just from what you share with the public and how you say it. In a group activity each group received part of a breaking news story and was asked to share what we felt were the important details. I was involved with group five which had all the resources while other groups did not know all of the information. As each group shared, they were able to add information to what prior groups shared. When it got to our group we shared a few new things, but failed to reveal one of the most important parts of the story. Had we done a better job at sharing what we had learned we could have been the big-time breaking news group and in the real world received a ton of praise and credibility. Instead the presenting group seemed disappointed that we left important information out. We had some difficulties overcome. We were the most spread out group and on my side we thought that other students preparing what to share with the class when they actually had not. This lack of sharing and exactness in reporting the story would have a negative impact in the professional world and who knows it may have perhaps had a negative impact on others in the class as the professor and other students may lack trusting us; feeling that we may be unprofessional or sub-par students.  This showed me that as mentioned in class that obtaining truth is a process.

                Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post voiced his thoughts on the lack of truth displayed in the journalism world by saying, “No matter how good the story, lying to get it raises as many questions about journalists as their subjects." He felt that in the “underground journalism” world there is a great deal of lying and deceiving to get great stories. As mentioned there is a great need for trust and telling the truth in journalism. The readers trust that the journalists will give them the truth, those being interviewed trust that journalists will tell their side of the story, and anonymous sources expect and trust that they will stay anonymous. With the great blogging revolution of the last several years, more and more people became casual journalists. They can reach a great range of people and it is also important that they stay truthful as well.

                As I have been following the recent Jimmer-mania that swept the nation in recent weeks I came across the following story that shows the need for truth in stories no matter who is writing it.

“Shortly after leading Brigham Young to an impressive victory over San Diego State in the biggest Mountain West Conference ever played, Jimmer Fredette eyed his teammates in the locker room before throwing all humility aside.

‘You’re welcome,’ Fredette said.
One of his teammates asked for what, giving Fredette the opportunity to remind the rest of the Cougars that they wouldn’t be a Top 10 team without him.
‘For winning the game for you,’ Fredette said.
So it won’t go down as a modest moment but it’s not like the guy who has prompted ‘Jimmermania’ was lying. Fredette scored 43 points in then-No. 9 BYU’s 71-58 victory over then-No. 4 San Diego State in the showdown that captured national attention.
That’s 60 percent of his team’s points against a Top 5 team that happens to be a pretty good defensive squad. That’s 15 more points than the rest of the BYU players scored combined.
The victory temporarily pushed BYU into first place in the Mountain West but the Cougars collapsed in the second half against New Mexico three days later, losing 86-77 at The Pit in Albuquerque.
There’s been no word on whether any of Fredette’s teammates hit him up with this question after the game: ‘Jimmer, how come you didn’t win this game for us?” (mrsportsblog.worldpress.com)

                This story has outraged BYU basketball fans and received a ton of negative responses from fans. There are many fans that know Jimmer and know members of the team and feel that this is outside his character and against the humble picture that his teammates paint him as. Some people have contacted members of the team and they have denied this ever happening. Several fans have contacted this blogger and he stands firmly by his story saying that he received it from a “highly reliable source who heard it from a player.” This makes finding a reliable and correct sources a serious priority for journalists.

            Journalists have a responsibility to get the facts right and presented in a way that lessens bias and allows the reader to trust them. The news stories of our time can become like Edward Eggleston put as, “organized gossip.” However, although it may be a difficult task a responsible journalist that delivers truthful and adequate news will gain the trust of the public.