PressEthic

One of the reasons the field of journalism is so attractive to me is the power of the pen (or the PC in today’s world). The duty to inform the public of issues that might otherwise go unnoticed is foremost an obligation in such a career, but a privilege for me to have an opportunity to participate in it.

But the more I learn about this muscle I will adopt, the more conscious I become about the way I approach political and social affairs in my journalistic endeavors.

I question whether or not a journalist’s involvement in an ideological cause becomes a conflict of interest with their profession. I argue that it definitely can be. When it comes down to who will listen to a particular issue, activists have a predetermined audience. People passionately involved in the work of Greenpeace may have limited interest in the social cause of let’s say, the NRA, and therefore may not be aware of the activities going on in the pro-gun arena. But a journalist who brings either course of activism into their work has a wider reach, and can be a powerful force in how a community takes action on an issue.

According to a statement made by Stephen Waters, the publisher of the Daily Sentinel in Rome, NY

Journalists who engage in activism assume to themselves responsibilities that belong to the reader: "Not only am I going to give you the 'facts', I'm going to make your decisions for you." The activist journalist presumes to know all the relevant detail in all the different maps of reality of every unique reader in an arrogance of excessive self-pride and self-confidence matched only by the journalist's contempt for the reader.

Well, yes. When activism in journalism is done towards a desired outcome, it does society a great disservice. We can be so compassionate towards individuals involved in certain situations that we can lose our credibility to the general public. We see this often enough with pundits on TV and talk radio. Rather than producing sound journalism that is balanced, activism can lead to fulfilling an agenda.

I am not saying we need to abandon activism in the pursuit of a career in journalism. We all have passions and opinions; we are after all, human. Tom Brokaw said it best in a recent interview by the San Francisco Chronicle, “You don’t have to give up your citizenship when you become a journalist.” I would suggest that all news outlets adopting a public editor to create a check and balance system for the reports that come out of a newsroom.