Features
What is journalism?
By Rajitha Ratwatte
fromoutsidethepearl@gmail.com
Who or what is a journalist? We have investigative journalists who do meticulous research and put together reports that win them world awards and, in some cases, change the history of the world. We don’t really have any of those in the Pearl or in Aotearoa.
We have others who are created by large media networks. They have been rounded up from a bar in a war zone or a rival network because they had a fancy accent and were good at amateur theatrics. We have seen these people grow in our lifetimes. They employ hundreds, if not thousands, of people who follow leads for them, check facts, arrange interviews and put together ‘intelligent’ questions that these people ask while safely ensconced in luxurious surroundings and full of whatever chemical makes them able to perform at their best! They find it difficult in most cases to show any real expressions on their faces as the plastic surgeons who have been fighting off the ravages of old age for them, have removed all mobility from their facial muscles. These journo superstars have their own shows and have gone on for decades.
The herd laps this up and think these people are heroes. They follow every word and allow themselves to be steered in the direction that the networks wish. Very rarely are the interviewees’ “top brass”. Most often a middle level civil servant fronts up for these interviews and squirms under the “aggressive” questioning and the very frequent and extremely rude interruptions directed at them. They try to not lose their tempers, probably thinking of large sums of money that they or their bosses are getting for the interview.
Occasionally, a less sophisticated or more naïve interviewee, loses it on air and sometimes the screaming hysterics directed at the interviewer, provides real entertainment! Recordings are probably held on record for future “use” or maybe sold for exorbitant amounts to prevent future embarrassment, should that person achieve higher office.
We don’t have this type either in our countries, not for want of them trying but because the Pearl doesn’t have enough money and Aotearoa hasn’t enough people to make a large news network commercially viable.
So, we come to the common or garden reporter. They probably didn’t have what it took to make it through Med school, become a lawyer or an engineer or even become a rocket scientist or a glorified bus driver as pilots are sometimes called. They chose journalism and obtained accreditation from a newspaper or some other publication. They attend news conferences and try to attract as much attention as possible.
They interrupt each other, and most questions asked by them are unintelligible to listeners’. They think that their mere presence allows them to scream rude and irrelevant questions at people who are doing jobs that they can never aspire to. They have forgotten common courtesy and respectful ways to address people, I wonder if they even teach this in journalism school.
What happened to reporting the facts and letting your reader work out their opinion? The press has become such an important weapon in this age of “followers” that pushing hidden agendas and ulterior motives has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. The middle level has people espousing causes and generating money for NGOs and other like organisations by writing columns. They support their families and even build up future generations using these columns. At the other end of the scale when the amounts of money are paltry, the press is bought over. Lap top computers and motorbikes have done the trick in the past, as we know in the Pearl. A powerful politician getting a lowly press man’s child into a prestigious school earns that person’s loyalty for life, more often than not. We cannot really find fault with this way of doing things. We can however learn about these people and either not read their biased accounts or even if we do read them discount them by a factor of the level of their bias.
On the other hand, reading a column by a journalist that one trusts and whose record one has followed over the years, brings a warm sense of security. This information can be trusted, and any opinions expressed are carefully thought out and reflect the writers’ true feelings. Be they “right” or “wrong” they are genuine and not written to meet the needs of another person or a hidden agenda. For example, when Ian Chappell writes about cricket, and he is often outspoken, being an Aussie but he always has credibility in my mind. According to the latest research, reading Chappell, for example, triggers an algorithm in my mind that brings comfort, security and inspires credibility. While generation X spends all waking hours searching for algorithms that will control past and future generations, let us concentrate on the simpler line of reasoning that deals with credibility and the lack of bias.
Just saw a report today that government sponsored agencies are hiring free-lance journalists to build up their credibility. Perfectly legitimate looking article on “middle of the road” topics are written published and paid for. Subsequent research shows, in one case, that a Russian-based organisation has been using these journalists to commence a campaign of influencing Western readers to change their thinking to a “left” bias.
Press accreditation is being withdrawn from individuals in some middle European countries, we are told. Of course, this is being treated as a massive crime. I beg to differ. A journalist and a member of the Fourth Estate cannot earn his place by simply having “press accreditation”. If he or she abuses it and consistently fails to deliver factually correct and unbiased reports their credentials should be withdrawn. Of course, it is up to the editors and the press barons not to publish rubbish, but as is the case in real life, it is often the minnow which dies to appease the bigger fish.