What Is Journalism?

I think it is now time in the west and in other countries who have governments which have democratic processes in the governmental systems, to ask what is journalism? What is its purpose? What are the ethics of those who call themselves journalists? What responsibility, if any, do the have to their readers, their governments, their employers?

These questions come to my mind after seeing trends within the media of activism for one set of political views, their growing brazenness in doing so, and their condescension to those who have a different set of values. I was given impetus to write this after watching 2 news programs this weekend. One was a show from a local station out of Tallahassee, Florida called “The Usual Suspects” and a show on PBS on Georgia Public Broadcasting entitled “Open Mind”; both shows illustrated the things I have seen in the media and those who identify themselves as journalists.

On the show “The Usual Suspects” there were 4 journalists, all progressive in leaning as evidenced by their very apparent dissatisfaction with Mr. Trump winning the Presidency. There were 2 Caucasian males, 1 Caucasian female, and an African American male, I don’t remember their names as I was overcome by their lack of objectivity and failure to grasp the mood of those who voted for Mr. Trump. They were obviously restraining themselves from saying the things they wanted about those voters and displayed a veneer of professionalism.

The African American journalist was honest in saying he was restraining himself from saying the things he wanted, I appreciated it and understood his feelings (though I feel he shouldn’t have to feel as he did) but the Caucasian female journalist couldn’t contain herself saying they need to be more proactive in “educating” those who voted for Mr. Trump about the issues. She feels journalists need to do more to get their progressive message out because, I guess, we don’t understand or maybe they are using words which are just to big for us to understand because how else could she explain those voters disagreeing with her.

In the other program, “Open Mind”, the control of information was what seemed to be what was important through journalist controls. I took that to mean, maybe I misinterpreted it, I was not smart enough to process the raw data and they were the ones who need to parse that data and decide what I should be able to see and interpret. I took it to mean, that unlike WikiLeaks, they would not have released the emails of Ms. Clinton, but they agreed with the release of those earlier emails and other documents which detailed the deeds of the NSA. This smacks of an agenda and wanting to engage in propaganda for a certain agenda.

This is what has brought about the demise and credibility of today’s news organizations; I am not even sure the journalists realize they are doing this. They have come to believe they are so much smarter than everyone else and they have the sole recipe for curing all the world’s ills. They believe they know how I should spend the money I work to earn, what car I should drive, how I should talk, how I should think, and it should all be done through government edict no matter what is in the law of the land; the Constitution.

Journalists are suppose to be the intelligence network of the American public. They are to give us the facts, without ideological slant, and allow us to make decisions based on those facts. There should be analysis pieces and editorials; but, they should be clearly labeled as such, not hidden as a straight news article.

Their cheer leading for certain candidates, issues, and ideology led to the rise of Fox News and their being ignored by a large segment of the population because of this lack of credibility. They need to return to the example of Walter Cronkite whom no one knew as a liberal until he had left his post at CBS News. It is because of this objectivity Mr. Cronkite was the most respected and trusted journalist in America. People knew he was a straight shooter, honest and a man of integrity.

 When journalists return to reporting who, what, when, where, and how they will again be trusted by all the American people. Until they separate the how and label it is such, they will not.