Cunningham suggests that journalists shift the focus off of "breaking, event-driven news" to more " sustained coverage of ideas and-- crucially --solutions." This couldn't hurt. Yes, I suppose it is important to know each breaking news story occurring in one's community, but if we focus on more pressing issues, we could possibly, according to Cunningham, force an issue of consequence out in the open and onto the national agenda, forcing leaders and politicians to confront these issues head-on and uncover possible solutions.
However, Cunningham suggests that journalists not simply be record-keepers, but to include their ideas and opinions that could very well differ from those of their leaders and superiors. While this is all well and good, this so-called "record-keeping" still holds a valid place in modern journalism. As my classmate Wade Hooks said, it is crucial that readers take on the responsibility of being critical thinkers. The job of the journalist is to provide readers with the facts and let them do with those facts what they will. We are not here to spoon-feed readers the information they want to hear and share with them ideas that we know they will agree with. There is a reason that there is an "editorial" section and not simply a "news and facts" section.
There is one point that Cunningham makes that I could not agree with more: citizen-journalism could never fully replace professional journalism. Journalism is a career, not a hobby. I am a journalist because I am passionate about journalism, I am committed to it and because I do it well. There is no way that I could simply be a reporter as a side job to some other career. Citizen-journalism is relevant, there is no doubt about that, but professional journalism is also, if not more, relevant. It is important to have people out there who are able to gather the facts, then report on them and report on the well.
Sure, anyone can keep a blog or create a Twitter account, but it takes a true journalist to knowledgeably and effectively report the news.
I agree with alot of what you said, and wouldn
ReplyDeletet it be a shame to be getting a journalism degree, and suddenly find that you are no longer needed?
Cunningham makes a complex argument for a more progressive posture. As journalists, we are historians of record, but each of us brings our own point-of-view to the creation of that record.
ReplyDeleteFiltering and framing of stories makes a mere reporting of facts impossible. I believe trained professionals are more important than ever but perhaps we might see everyone who critically reads and responds to news as journalists, too.