Thursday, July 1, 2010

Something to remember for media folks: Truth Seeking


The length of this quote prevents me from posting it on dumb, old Twitter. It's so nice though, and I wish political reporters would latch onto this as a mission that distinguishes us in the public mind from political hacks.

"If your job is to make the case, win the negotiations, decide what the community should do, or maintain morale, that is one kind of work. If your job is to tell people what’s going on, and equip them to participate without illusions, that is a very different kind of work. To put it a little more sharply, power-seeking and truth-seeking are different behaviors, and this is what creates the distinction between politics and journalism. The work of the journalist cannot be done without a commitment to the act of reporting, which means gathering information, talking to people who know, trying to verify and clarify what actually happened and to portray the range of views as they emerge from events."

0 comments:

Post a Comment