The Profession

Journalism has often been referred to as the fourth estate of government. In many ways this is true becuase journalists act as gatekeepers and whistleblowers for the government. This high calling of the fourth estate can be likened to a professional priesthood where journalists job is to connect with the audience and inform them of what is going on in the world. I think that not all journalists are using their priesthood effectively however because media is become disengaged from their audiences. Many people are distrustful of the media, so they are not as willing to learn from the journalist priests. By verifying facts and writing well written, balanced stories, the media can re-gain the trust of their audience and form a more solid priesthood.

It has been suggested that with the decline of newspapers, journalists should use their priesthood power and influence from the fourth estate to begin a government sponsered newspaper. I believe this will decline the priesthood power because the audience will even less likely to trust a media that is dependent on the government for survival. An article by Dan Gilmor suggests that having a government sponsered media would not create a new priesthood, but further damage the already crumbling journalistic priesthood.

One of the biggest struggles for journalists is to decide when to get involved and where to draw the line. It can become difficult to simply stand and report on a story rather than getting involved and helping people that are in need of help. One of the best rules presented in class was that helping in a crisis is fine, as long as you put down the notebook first. The Society of Professional Journalists encourages reporters to stay distant from the stories they are covering. When journalists participate in the stories they are covering it often looks like they are trying to do good things just to boost their ratings. A story by Eric Deggans says that journalists should help as much as possible, and then never report on it. This discourages journalists from helping out because they would be taking time away from their job and it also does not allow for any thoughts of self interest because mass audiences will not know what they did.

Distance is an important part of gathering news. If reporters get too close to the story they lose objectivity and the story becomes a conflict of interest. However, if they stay too far away they will not understand the entire story. The line is different for every story and the sign of a good journalist is to find the line so that they can report accurately, but not get too close to the point the story becomes biased.

I think that journalists view the world in a slightly different way than other people because they are always looking for a story. Journalists, by nature, are curious and want to know more about what people are talking about and want to find a story in everything. However, the worldview of journalists is shrinking as journalism becomes more localized. An interview with Mark Danner says that news is becoming more local for two reasons. First, there is a perceived lack of interest among American audiences. Additionally, it is expensive to have foreign news and support bureaus around the world.