I'm still up in the air about this.. at times I think that journalism is dead, and then I begin to question why I am wasting my time with this major. The honest answer is I don't know.
But I read this article, and it made me realize something.
I never wanted to be a "respectable" journalist... I mean not in the sense of the word that everyone uses.
I am not a news reporter.. I don't keep up with what is going on in the Middle East, and I have just recently started caring about the economic crisis we are in. If I am not fully informed about these things, how can I expect a reader to care about it?
I can't.
This article hits on a few different topics, but most importantly it criticizes the state of American Journalism, and I happen to wholeheartedly agree with what it says.
We are too serious.
I am not saying that our newspapers should turn into tabloids, unconcerned with the truth and worry about the best story, regardless of how we come about our information. I am saying that we need to take a step back and reevaluate.
We have come to a point where we have lost touch with the public.
The article says that, "As the profession grew more sophisticated and respected . . . top reporters, anchors and editors naturally rose in status to the point where some came to be considered the social equals of the senators, Cabinet secretaries and CEOs they reported on. Just as naturally, these same reporters sometimes came to identify with their subjects, rather than with their readers."
Think about it.
We have lost connection with our audience, and as we struggle to gain them back, they will find new sources of information. We spent too much time fighting it, too much time taking ourselves seriously that we forgot to have fun.
The article also cites the "terrible burden of living up to the demands of the First Amendment." But isn't the First Amendment supposed to liberate us?
I don't know. Sometimes I can't even remember why I am doing this, why I still write articles.
It's not fun anymore... but there is still hope for the field if we just remember how and stop worrying and fighting so much against the changing times..
1 comment:
It's disappointing that journalists want to fit into a certain mold. There is a stigma surrounding this profession that only becomes more stifling as it becomes more competitive. Journalists need to make the public interested and to do that they have to connect with their readers. I hate it when papers try to sound pretentious. Who are they impressing? What is really happening is people are glancing quickly through articles at the breakfast table and stop reading because they don't care enough to be that bored. I understand that news stories are news stories, and not much can be done to spice them up, but for print something should done. Broadcast offers short blurbs and people can watch it effortlessly. But, editorial journalists will work very hard on an article and people wont read it. Print should offer more background information, not focus so much on news, because people most likely heard the news by the time they see the paper, but the paper can offer them information they didn't have before. That is just one way, I think, that papers can once again distinguish themselves from broadcast and be useful once again.
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