Independence and Journalism

Independence and journalism is all about transparency. It's not good enough to try to be objective, accurate, and fair. It is also necessary for the public to know the background of the reporter.

I can't say I've ever seriously contemplated making sure my audience knew me, my intentions, my background, my beliefs, my motives, my associations, my allegiances. But class last week definitely drilled that home. The beating my team took when having to defend Maggie Gallagher was certainly enough to frighten me into full disclosure for the rest of my life.

Every association, every advocacy group we support, every political affiliation we hold, every religious and social belief, everything is subject to the scrutiny of the public. All of these are links or ties that connect us to groups and mindsets that infringe upon our independence. As gatekeepers, mediators, journalists, we must disclose these aspects of our lives as part of being independent and transparent.

Informing the public of our history as well as current obligations is necessary because, like it or not, WE ARE part of the news - we may not MAKE it, but we certainly do PRESENT it, and certain aspects of our lives may color certain stories. Full disclosure of ourselves is just another step in presenting all the information to the public in order for them to make informed decisions and to be self-governing.

Just read these bits of "The Ethics of Civic Journalism: Independence as the Guide" by Bob Steele and thought I'd share them:

"Poynter Institute senior scholar Roy Peter Clark (1994) ties the evolution of public journalism to the way journalists have perceived their function. 'Our role as detached observers has gotten us into a kind of problem, reflected in distrust by the public,' Clark says. 'The creation of a professional class of journalists may have produced an alienation between journalism and the public.' Clark suggests that 'the media needs to be more like the public. Journalists need to be more like the people.'"

In one more defense for my teammates and myself, isn't this what we tried to argue??:

"Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, Paul Soglin worries that a newspaper can get too much power by mixing the roles of reporting the news and creating it. Soglin says the Wisconsin State Journal has been "wearing two hats" by reporting a story it helped create, in this case on economic development issues. Searching for Common Ground You can view this civic journalism debate from a good and bad, right and wrong perspective, but that would be both unfair and shortsighted. The issues are more complex than to be scored that way. There's plenty of gray area, it's not just about winners and losers, and much of the debate can be examined by going from the philosophy of public journalism, what it is, to how it is practiced. That's the next step in exploring the ethics of civic journalism."