Truth, accuracy and anonymous sources

1. How well do you think modern American journalism tells the truth, and what thoughts or suggestions do you have about how that can be improved?

They say that journalism's first priority is to the truth, and by "them" I mean our The Elements of Journalism book. But what is truth? There's that ongoing argument as to whether or not truth is absolute or relative we have to consider in answering this question. Since we are relatively subjective beings, there cannot be one universal truth can there?According to The Elements of Journalism, "This is what journalism is after--a practical or functional form of truth. It is not a truth in the absolute or physical sense." Instead, journalism does it's best to present information fairly and let the audience decide for themselves. Journalistic truth involves not only accuracy but genuine honesty and carefully thought out sorting (sorting of quotes, sources, and which stories to ultimately run). I believe the US media does a fairly good job in telling the truth because they know if they don't, some other station or viewer will call them on it and a lawsuit could be filed. If we just stopped selling tabloids that would get rid of a good chunk of the inaccurate news. Otherwise, I believe we should just let the fourth amendment do its thing. By allowing for freedom of the press we take a risk of letting false stories be released. However, due to modern technology and the efficiency of conveying messages these days, false stories are soon debunked. It is truly getting harder and harder to get away with lying to the public.

2. What do you think about use of anonymous sources in American journalism today?

Even though the use of "anonymous sources" could easily be abused, I think that they can be useful. When reading a story whose facts are from "anonymous sources" we need to use our own judgement and take these stories for what they are worth. First, take into consideration the context of these stories (i.e. a story from People magazine with anonymous sources is less likely to be accurate than a story in the New York Times with anonymous sources). Secondly, don't automatically assume something you read is true, check with other sources. That being said, without Woodward and Bernstein anonymous source "Deep Throat" we would never have known of the corruption happening behind Watergate. In summary, I support the use of anonymous sources as valid sources in news, sometimes it is necessary to protect a witnesses identity and so forth. Just remember to take anonymous sources for what they are worth.

Kovach, Bill, and Tom Rosenstiel. The Elements of Journalism. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 2007. Print.

WHAT is journalism?

Technically journalism is the process of researching and reporting current events accurately unless we're talking yellow journalism, in which case please be sure to report the fact inaccurately (cough, any type of mainstream pop culture magazine ever made, end cough). In case that definition does not satisfy, I'll expound: journalism is an efficient and informative form of mass communication.

WHO are the journalists?

The journalists are the informants, the middlemen, the investigators, and the gatekeepers. The job of a journalist is to give us (the people) the facts in a relatively unbiased manner. Journalists must be flexible these days to keep up with progressive society. Mostly this means conciseness. People hate to spend their more time and effort than absoluteness necessary to catch up on news that will be old within 24 hours; thus, headlines, the inverted pyramid writing method, broadcast journalism, and newspaper apps.

WHAT do you think of the Daily Universe announcement to publish in print weekly (and online daily) beginning in Spring Term?

Because I am not planning on becoming a journalist major, I don't have much of the opinion on this issue. But I will say I do not know many people who read the Daily Universe except for the police beat, so I think making the paper weekly will reflect public demand more accurately. The online daily is great because it it not only forces students to conform to the digital day and age (which is where we're undeniably headed), but saves paper and thus, money as well.