Loyalty in Journalism

In class on Tuesday we talked about Loyalty and Journalism and who journalists should be loyal to. Is it to the public or the management above them trying to make a buck? If you ask a journalist, they will tell you that their loyalty lies with the public and they want to tell the story, regardless of the financial bottom line. I imagine management will say that their loyalty is to the public as well but a business is not a business if it can't survive. If a newspaper is going to lose advertisers because of an article that is being run, I would imagine the management is going to have a very difficult time deciding who to be loyal to.

I found a great article online about objectivity. I love this line: "The creed of objectivity and balance, formulated at the beginning of the 19th century by newspaper owners to generate greater profits from advertisers, disarms and cripples the press." The journalists have to neutralize their stories to maintain the peace between management and advertisers. This keeps the journalists from telling their stories with feeling, emotion, and bias. Is that the way it should be? According to the article, facts can tell any story. But, this leaves the reader with a disconnect from the story. By adding feeling, emotions, and sometimes even controversy, a story can be told that the public can grab a hold of and care about.

Not long ago, Jayson Blair of The New York Times resigned as a journalist for the paper after being caught for plagarizing and making up lies for his stories. Jayson Blair wasn't loyal to the public. He seemed only interested in putting out stories that would make him successful. He quickly rose in the ranks of the paper despite complaints from editors about his facts. Were his errors ignored because it made the story "better"? Jayson Blair seemed successful and I am sure it brought readership to the paper. Earning money may have been more important for the management until they couldn't ignore Blair's actions anymore and confronted him with his lies. Where can we get honest, factual, and ethical stories?

New media may be the way to get those stories. Journalists can get their stories out and answer to no one but the public. It's too bad, but a reality, that businesses can only survive if they make money. Media is not exempt and will do what it takes to make a profit.