Bill Kovach
The co-author of "The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect" discusses journalism today.
"We have opened a national conversation to rediscover the values that set the work of professional journalists apart from other forms of communication..."
Q: Your book, "The Elements of Journalism," is nearly eight years old. When you wrote it, you were concerned about the diminution of quality journalism in part because of new technologies. Simultaneously, you felt at least mildly optimistic that many journalism organizations would never abandon basic principles leading to reliable and sometimes spectacular reporting. How does the picture look now?
A: Cutbacks by owners of news organizations are obviously a problem during an era when alternative outlets for mass communication are increasing, when the loss of classified and display advertising in the traditional print media is creating panic among publishers. The ailing economic model raises the question whether the market sufficiently values the role of journalists in a democracy. The worry is that the cutbacks reduce the number of trained observers who discover, verify, organize and prepare information for the public. That worry seems especially valid when the gigantic corporations owning news outlets (such as the Disney entertainment empire swallowing ABC News and the General Electric Corporation swallowing NBC News) see no incentive to enhance the watchdog function of journalism--after all, the watchdog has traditionally exposed wrongdoing at private sector powerhouses such as Disney and General Electric.
Meanwhile, the market is rewarding outlets like cable television, talk radio and much of the Internet, outlets that invest little in reporting while turning the information produced by others into niche markets. Those niche markets, in turn, fragment the citizenry, which is unhealthy for democracy. Self-interested communication and propaganda become prevalent. Just like advances in technology more than 100 years ago led to opportunities for advertising, public relations and other efforts to control thought, today's advances in technology allow government institutions, evangelical religious organizations and manufacturers of dangerous products to condition the citizenry. If journalists fail to take the lead in creating reality for a mass audience, somebody else will create that reality, and it might not be fact-based. As we drown in information, it seems reasonable to worry whether the flood will serve a self-governing public or will allow power elites to centralize authority.
Q: What is the role played by the Committee of Concerned Journalists in trying to ameliorate the diminution of reliable journalism?
A: We have opened a national conversation to rediscover the values that set the work of professional journalists apart from other forms of communication. More than 10 years after the founding of the Committee, we must ask: Does the public have the time, motivation and skills required to become their own editors? Can they separate the true from what is suspected? What is real from what is made up? If the answers to those questions are no, the challenge becomes this: Do journalists have the skill and the will to help citizens gain these tools? Every day, journalists should offer transparency that makes clear the processes by which they labor to verify information to create a more knowledgeable, sophisticated audience. Bloggers, for example, are probably less likely to consider the impact of anonymous sources on the truth than professional journalists would do. Bloggers are more likely to live on the extreme edges of argument, rather than trying to represent a wide spectrum of thinking. Discussion built on the extremes omits the interests of most citizens. The responsible gathering and verification of information distinguishes professional journalists from everybody else on the communication highway.
Q: How do the new tools available to journalists help them connect to precarious audiences?
A: Journalists can use computer applications like Wiki to help audiences build communities based on current news disclosures or aid them in findings solutions to community problems. We can practice crowd sourcing, as reporters use blogs to inform readers about stories in progress, then ask for relevant information. A newspaper reporter did this recently while launching a series about the causes and effects of the disease spina bifida. We can apply the tools of interactivity, video, sound, data mining and narrative storytelling to link ourselves to the public in appealing, even educational ways. We can offer civic education to help people unlearn what they are misled to believe by popular culture built on blind faith, self-indulgence and fear. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina gave journalist an opportunity to show their professionalism and ability with new tools, as Americans showed a sudden interest in the plight of the poor and the failures of government.
During an era when anybody can serve as a reporter or a commentator on the Web two-way journalism becomes imperative. The professional journalists should become accustomed to serving as a forum leader as well as a fact gatherer. The journalist is no longer the equivalent of a lecturer, but more like a mediator. The audience members are no longer passive consumers, but rather a hybrid of consumer and producer.
Q: Have you devised specific types of information journalists could post online using the new tools?
A: Yes. An issue grid could consist of side-by-side comparisons of what candidates for political office say and do about a variety of societal problems. A listing of campaign contributions could show visitors to a journalism Web site the links among the politicians receiving the money, the donors of the money and whether the politicians voted in the ways desired by the donors. Debate watches would evaluate the factual accuracy of each candidate's statements as they spar about who has done what to whom. A similar analysis could be posted about the advertisements of each candidate. Financial aid from the U.S. government to every other nation in the world could be posted, with charts and other graphics accompanying narratives about how the money is being used and whether it is accomplishing its goals. Regarding the private sector, journalists can post easily accessible information about the cars sold by every automobile manufacturer, comparing miles per gallon, crashworthiness and other factors, all the while sharing with visitors to that Web site how we gathered the information, how we know it is as accurate as humanly possible. Alongside the data could be statements taken from the advertisements of each auto manufacturer, as they try to sell their brands of cars based on appearance and emotion instead of performance. The journalist would use news judgment while gathering the advertisements, using them as the jumping-off point for reporting, and presenting the significant information in a cogent, compelling manner.
Interview conducted by Steve Weinberg, Professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, Author and Freelance Magazine Writer.