PressEthic

Wandering through Jeff Jarvis' Buzz Machine, I found myself faced with yet another new rule-book journalism standards. Frankly, I think I'm starting to bore myself with all this "changing the face of journalism" hoo-ha.

CBS News President Andrew Heyward (at the prodding of NYU's own Jay Rosen) has put forth his three new laws:

1. Stop pretending we know everything, and that there is a truth-with-a-capital-T about every issue. (Or any issue, for that matter.) This doesn't mean give up on standards.

2. Say "Yes to Point-of-View Journalism"

3. The news needs a more authentic voice.

All of this sounds okay to me. Wait! No. Stop. Back up to number two. Let me just say this: lets shape our readers opinions with balanced and well presented facts. Let's please stop telling them how to think. I know people love Rush Limbaugh, but I also know that he's not a journalist. Neither are most of the Sunday morning commentators on television. Yes, we need to speak in a more interesting voice, but we don't need to all become Op-ed columnists, just because it's popular, just because it pays better.

We're practically begging readers to take notice of how much we're changing. Look! Over here! We're not trying to force the news down your throat! Like that's an option. Let's not be pathetic, but lets take care of business. There's still a place in the world for hard news. People still need to see journalism. We can make it interesting without sacrificing the craft.