From the wikipedia entry on journalism:
According to The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosensteil, there are nine elements of journalism. In order for a journalist to fulfill their duty of providing the people with the information they need to be free and self-governing, they must follow these guidelines.
Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.
Its first loyalty is to the citizens.
Its essence is discipline of verification.
Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
Sadly, there are those in journalism who have forgotten these elements (if they ever used them).
There are those in the journalism field who feel differently about their roles. They are not to search for truth, but merely the closest thing to truth they can find. They cannot be independent of the subjects they cover, the must "imbed" themselves with them. They don't want to monitor power, because if they do the risk losing their access to it.
And the "provide a forum for public criticism and compromise" thing? Forgetabouit. It's so much easier to make shit up and waste a week covering and analyzing it to death.
Hey: a bald Britney is interesting an all, and maybe I am curious about the kid who can't stop hiccuping, but there a news oulets for that particular brand of stories. There's a whole population of Americans who are starving for meat and potatoes, but day after day get served junk food.
So it's no surprise that bloggers came on the scene. They came to do what reporters stopped doing. They came to fill the void. They used technology and family and friends and contacts and information from all over to get the real story behind the story (that would be #s 1,3 and 7).
So these journalists, these reporters...they should be happy right? Aren't bloggers making their job easier? Aren't they also helping by keeping the media on their toes, letting them know what's important to John and Jane Q. Public?
That would be a "no" on all fronts:
David Gregory, White House correspondent for NBC News:
"I think politics and political coverage has become so polarized in this country...because it’s the internet and the blogs that have really used this White House press conferences to somehow support positions out in America, political views. And they will clip and digitize portions of these briefings to fit into their particular argument."
Remember: journalists have been used to using elections to find out how people are feeling. But now, instead of a snapshot, they're getting a movie; a running diary of how (in this case) politics are affecting us on a daily basis. This obviously scares the shit out of the David Gregorys of the world. How dare we follow a press conference and then express how we feel about what was said?
Tony Snow, White House Press Secretary:
"You’ve got this wonderful, imaginative hateful stuff that comes flying out. I think one of the most important takeaways is — it’s the classical line — not only should you not believe your own press, you probably shouldn’t believe your opposition blogs either."
Except that some blogs use creditted news sources and some don't. There are blogs that take what people like Tony Snow has said and asks him why he said it, or why he's now saying something completely different. And that type of stuff is sooooo hateful.
Richard Wolffe, White House correspondent for Newsweek:
"They want us to play a role that isn’t really our role. Our role is to ask questions and get information. ... It’s not a chance for the opposition to take on the government and grill them to a point where they throw their hands up and surrender. ... It’s not a political exercise, it’s a journalistic exercise. And I think often the blogs are looking for us to be political advocates more than journalistic ones."
If I go by just this statement, Richard Wolffe doesn't believe in #s 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. But like all these guys, I'm sure #9 is at the top of the list.
Part of me thinks reporters are afraid we'll just sneak up and take their job, like at the end of the movie "Drop Dead Gorgeous." Another part of me thinks that their hands are tied because they are being employed by cooperations who may have a personal preference of what questions are asked, when they are asked and and how the answers are packaged. Then there's a part of me that thinks some of these people have been doing this maybe a little to long, and that change is gonna have to come.