JOUR 375- MidTerm Blog Post

A journalist’s relationship with the public is a very crucial part within the field of journalism. When really thought about, the public is responsible for what journalist’s write about and how they do their jobs.

In the 2003 award winning film, Shattered Glass, we see immediately what can happen between journalists and the public when it’s not taken seriously. When reporting accurate and honest information isn’t given top priority, problems start to occur. Newspapers and the world of journalism in general can suffer while in the process of attempting to solve the issues.

Based on the true story of Stephen Glass, the film shows how Glass made up 27 out of 41 articles while working at The New Republic. Eventually, the magazine finds out what Glass did and ends up immediately firing him. The magazine then writes an apology letter to the public about the exaggerated articles and for being oblivious to someone who has no business taking journalism seriously.

According to research article, “How Journalists Retrospectively Describe Processes for Ensuring Accuracy” written by Ivor Shapiro, journalists must now compete with other citizens in a web-dominated information marketplace. Journalists, especially today, have to compete with many other strong sources which can be extremely difficult at times.

Personally, I agree with this article and think that journalists face many overwhelming tasks that can cause them to panic and falsify information. With having the web at your fingertips, it’s so easy to exaggerate any information and not even realize it. It’s so easy to find information as entertaining, thinking it’s all factual when really it’s all just fiction.

According to chapter 5 in “Community Journalism: Relentlessly Vocal”, it covers and specifies that journalists are responsible for their own work and their relationship with their readers. This chapter strongly states that journalists are accountable and responsible for their own actions no matter what.

In chapter 5, Lauterer also covers what the responsibilities are for reporters in the interviewing and source finding process.

“We do conduct humane and civil interviews; we do treat people as the human beings they are, not at expendables,” said Lauterer.

This quote refers back to the articles that Glass wrote. Whether exaggerated or not, he managed to write an interesting and attention-grabbing story over the reality and factuality of his subjects. Even though audiences and readers want interesting stories all around, being honest about your work is what will keep them coming back.

The main focus of a journalist should be their audience and how they will comprehend their work. A reader should always feel comfortable to approach a journalist if he or she feels that there’s an issue with what they wrote. We depend on what journalist’s write because they are part of how readers and audiences receive news.

According to the article “Duties and Responsibilities of a Journalist” by Ellie Williams, journalists educate the public about events and issues and how they effect their lives. They spend much of their time interviewing expert sources, searching public records and other sources for important information.

Through the eyes of the public, journalist’s are always expected to get their information correct the first time. Even though mistakes sometimes happen, readers and audiences everywhere rely on the information that journalist’s write to be accurate and fair. This is something that separates them from other fields of writing.

“Some aspects of a journalist’s job are not subject to any kind of law but are just as important”, said Williams.

I think this is extremely important because just because some things may not be technically illegal, it should still be treated as such. Having good morals as a journalist is one of the most important things to have. Not only that but that’s something that readers and audiences look for in any journalist.

Journalists have an obligation to present all sides of a story and not get off track and focus on only one. They are required to go through extensive research and talk to several different people who are knowledgeable about the subject.

Overall, the job of a journalist is to always be honest, accurate and fair. It’s important to not only respect yourself and your writing, but to also respect others as well.