Why this matters: a #thread. nytimes.com/2020/06/01/bus…
2/ #opinion I am trained as a journalist, worked as one, and now teach young people who will become journalists in the future. I now start my semesters with a question: What would have to offer the world that any blogger or human with a cell phone would not?
3/ It's a reasonable question. Anyone can write something and publish it at the tap of a button. A substantial percentage of people can even shoot and edit video and do a pretty good job at that. So what value does a trained journalist add?
4/ I think it's two things. The first is the ability to get and understand information from primary sources. Somewhat this is by having credentialed access to newsmakers or the will to sit through city council meetings and the like, each and every time.
5/ In J-school I learned things like what a city manager does, how food inspections work, the relationship of standardized tests to what your child will do in school tomorrow and the difference between a beat cop and a detective.
6/ That is all good things to know. Journalism today has a strong emphasis on verification and on finding, interpreting and reporting with #data. That is a skill that fewer bloggers and humans with cell phones have. (Though some do, and are excellent at it)
7/ The other thing is a set of ethical norms that are supposed to guide the profession. Have a look for yourself. It's not a secret. spj.org/ethicscode.asp
8/ Does every story every time adhere to all of these? No. So yes, you are right. Journalists can and do make mistakes. A lot of them. You'll notice that ethically dealing with that happening is right there in the code.
9/ Are journalists taught about these norms? Do they discuss them on the job regularly as a part of their decision-making process. Yes.
10/ Back to the question: why is it a problem for journalists to be targeted when they are at protests? I have seen an argument that because freedom of the press and freedom of assembly are both in the first amendment, journalists shouldn't expect different treatment.
11/ Something else I teach about is the laws that promote and the laws that inhibit press freedom, because those laws tell us about what society has decided is the value of what journalists do.
12/ Generally, those laws tell us that the work of journalists has value to society. You can go to city council and live tweet it. Most of you won't. You can look at the school budget to make sure people are honest. Most of you won't.
13/ You could go out in your own community and engage with people who are different from you, understand what they are saying and share it with others. Many of you don't. But if your community's journalists are doing their jobs, you'll see it in the news.
14/ Targeting journalists makes it harder for them to do their jobs well. And a journalist's job done well has value for society today as people need to know and understand and value tomorrow as that first draft of history may help society to do better next time.
00/ One US journalism norm is objectivity, meaning you don't share your opinions, as you must report fairly on those with whom you disagree. That norm makes journalists question if they can even write things like this thread. I even went back to label this #opinion.
