Journalistic Manifesto Part 2

With all my talk over the past several weeks about what I question about traditional journalism, I think the time has come for me to define what I think journalism should be, which is appropriate for my last post on this weblog and for this class.

I call this conclusion a manifesto rather than a code or a principle because I believe those codes and principles are already well established. What I seek to do is to clarify how a modern journalist should apply those codes and principles.

In writing this post and its accompanying manifesto, I have leaned heavily on the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, the Project for Excellence in Journalism’s Principles of Journalism, and the Largemouth Citizen Journalism Manual. I agree with the ethics, principles, and ideas presented in all three places, and what I seek to do in this manifesto is describe how I interpret and, more importantly, how I intend to apply them.

Dennis L Hitzeman’s Journalism Manifesto

- Journalists must report the truth; however, there is more to journalism than reporting the facts.

o “It rained today” may be newsworthy, but it is not the essence of journalism. In my opinion, journalism is about shining the light of truth on the moral, ethical, and political issues that shape society. Certainly, reporting the facts is a part of the journalistic pursuit, but just as important is explaining why anyone should care and what can be done. This latter pursuit is the essence of journalism.

- Journalism is a storytelling art

o While journalism is concerned with the truth and the facts that form the truth, facts presented without context and emotion are easy to ignore. Part of the role of a journalist is to make the truth interesting and relevant. This does not mean abandoning objectivity for speculation, rather it means being objective in a way that makes people want to care.

- Journalism is a knowledge science

o Journalism cannot function without facts. Facts are empirical and knowable. By definition, it is the journalist’s obligation to know what he is reporting is true. If a journalist does not possess that knowledge, he should not report until he does, however long that may take.

- Journalists must report facts objectively, but that does not mean they need to report them neutrally.

o In my opinion, the best journalism comes from a well-articulated, well-informed, unambiguous point of view. I believe that a journalist can report more objectively about all of the facts, even different points of view, if he first clearly explains his own relationship to those facts and points of view. Such reporting eliminates the accusation of bias from the very beginning by revealing to everyone exactly where the

- Journalists must report facts independently, but independence does not mean freedom from influence.

o Just as a journalist can never really be neutral, I do not believe he can ever really be free of influence. We are all influenced by our faith, families, friends, employers and all of the other affiliations we have in our lives. Instead of ignoring those affiliations, journalists must admit their influence and explain how they affect his reporting. Such disclosure allows reporting to be understood in context.

- Journalists must remember they are part of their community; journalists are still citizens.

o I believe that a journalists first obligation is really to liberty, not the truth. It is from liberty that the freedom to report the truth originates, and without liberty, journalism is dead. Of course, even I began this manifesto with the truth, but beneath the truth lies the requirement for the journalist to act as the check to any exercise of power over his fellow citizens, be it governmental, corporate, or societal. As a result, the journalist must always be biased in favor of his fellow citizens and toward liberty against any other concern.

- Journalism is a means not an end.

o I believe that journalists must always remember that the check to their own influence is the liberty of their fellow citizens. Citizens are free to pick and choose from what the journalist reports to decide for themselves what the truth is. Whatever the truth may be, the will of the individual and of the citizens always trumps all other concerns, even the journalistic one.

- Journalists may be well informed, but they are not always smarter.

o Journalists have the advantage of a profession that requires them to be well informed, but this state does not make them smarter than anyone else. It takes the common wisdom of an entire nation to make republican democracy work, and journalists are just one part of that system. Journalists must always keep in mind that in the end, it is the citizens, not the journalists, who make the decisions.