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| Yes | 41% | 169 votes | Total: 414 votes | |
| No | 59% | 245 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWhat makes a journalist? Is it the credentials or a desire to report facts and relevant issues in an objective and non-biased manner? Does the journalist have an imperative to make the news being reported more accessible to the general public?
Journalism should be about drive and passion. These two elements push society forward to create the basics of language, movable type, and the most basic reporting. Humanity's nature towards curiosity and the sharing of information built the essence of journalism. Though, throughout the years, the impartial media has been drawn further and further away from its roots. Instead of being objective and impartial the media of today is influenced by commerce and special interests.
The government has had no small part in the misdirection of the media. Through subtle censorship, tactical leaks, and other forms of control, journalism has softened its view on the First Amendment save for when it benefits itself. For example, the atrocities occurring in Darfur were never reported in any media portrayed as a place for world news. There was not one word on either CNN or Fox News until it was brought to the attention of the American public by celebrities.
The Daily Show has become a major provider of the news for people between the ages of 20-30. Despite the use of humor and sarcasm to put the news in an attempt to turn the news into entertainment, they also show the news as it is. Much like a Jester of the medieval courts, through mockery, they show truth.
Civilian journalists often do the same. Though there are many biased journalists of this nature, there are those who don't. Just as it is possible that any given blogger will have nothing more important to say than that they've had a sandwich for lunch, the same blogger has the potential to wax journalistic on any given subject.
So, are civilian journalists trustworthy? Yes, why should a faceless, political blogger lie? People who read citizen bloggers expect a certain amount of trust and honesty from a news source viewed as contemporary. A citizen journalist relies on this trust to keep readership up. There is no sense of loyalty to a blog if a reader feels slighted. Most blogs are free, making them accessible but the reader runs the risk of lackluster reporting. Serious readers look out for this sort of thing and seek to distance themselves from blogs that either run in an political leaning opposite to theirs or have sloppy, poorly researched news.
Learn more about this author, Lola Batling.
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No
As bloggers and online writers become more prevalent in today's culture, the issue of whether they are more trustworthy than professional journalists has become highly contested and considered. Those who favor citizen journalists may look to the issues of bias and company policies to say that professionals are ruled by the information the newspapers are willing to print and the fear of offending supporters. They say citizens are not ruled by these concerns because they work for themselves and don't necessarily have to answer to anyone.
And that is all well and good, but the issue of trustworthiness is all about whether the information given is actually accurate, well-researched and supported - and that is where the expertise of a professional journalist becomes absolutely key.
Yes, a professional journalist has most likely had the education to take a position in the field, studying how to report the news, how to find sources and all the other material that comes with a college education in writing and journalism.
Professional journalists have been taught the importance of objectivity in reporting and are held to a standard that ensures they keep their own biases segregated to editorials and opinion pieces.
But, most importantly, the professional journalist has had the experience to know what is relevant, what readers are looking for and how to find the additional information to inform others. The professional has supposedly built up sources with people in the know, whether they be local officials, business owners or other regular citizens around town who can provide the accurate information to help residents know what is going on in their towns and the world at large.
I am a professional journalist with a Bachelor's degree in journalism, and I like to think that I have the knowledge necessary to do my job in an appropriate manner. I am a reporter for two local newspapers, and I cover municipal government, police and local business news in a job I have held for more than two years now. I have built up a list of sources - be they mayors, chiefs of police, council members, administrators or business owners - who I know I can trust to give me information, and who know they can trust me to accurately report the news. I go to these people to verify information, gather explanations and get the facts necessary to keep people informed. As a professional journalist, I have the resources necessary to provide correct information.
In my job, I also read online comments from local residents as they write their opinions and supposed facts about the towns. I consider that they could be labeled as citizen journalists because they write information about the towns, as well as their own opinions about the situations, in efforts to inform. But frankly, I do not believe any of the comments can be considered trustworthy, nor should they be taken as fact. On many occasions, I have read comments that are completely false when compared to the information given to me by the officials in the town. At other times, the interpretation of the facts is wrong because the writer did not read the articles carefully enough.
As an example, a few months ago, I wrote an article about the municipal budget introduced by one of the towns. In the lead of the article, I emphasized that the budget had decreased by a specific amount, and the municipal taxes had decreased by a certain percentage, information presented on the record during a previous council meeting. In a comment left by a resident, he wrote that, with the economy the way it is, he had to cut his own personal budget, and couldn't understand why the town hadn't done the same. This was a case of the resident not reading the article properly, not listening to officials and using his own opinion, albeit a false one, to show his problems with the town itself.
In general, a professional journalist can be better counted on to serve as a trustworthy purveyor of the facts, as opposed to the everyday citizen journalist. Journalists have a job to do, providing accurate information to the public, and it is understood that they will do so, whereas ordinary citizens do not necessarily have that sort of allegiance - they are more able, and often more willing, to inject a certain subjectivity that, readers hope, is always absent from professional reporting.
Learn more about this author, Audrey Levine.
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