Every so often, we journalists must turn our gaze inward to examine our successes and our shortcomings. In doing so, we perform the important and necessary public service of getting everyone else off our backs for a little while.
And so we ask: What are our obligations? As student journalists at The Post, we have obligations to objectivity, to veracity, and to avoiding the temptation, however strong, to Photoshop red rays shooting out of President Roderick McDavis' eyes after he says this Halloween
we will focus on civic and personal responsibility like a laser beam. (Peer-praised faculty members to receive raise The Post, Oct. 6)
Apparently, we also have an obligation to Real People with Real Stories. At least, that's what all my journalism professors keep telling me. Journalism professors love to talk about Real People more than Frank Solich loves calling option right. They speak of them as if most of the men and women walking around campus are pod beings or androids with computer-constructed memories. Finding the Real People, it seems, requires powers of observation that are - and please excuse me while I run with this one for a while - laser sharp.
Hurricane Katrina definitely gave the U.S. media a wake-up call on the racial bias apparent in our coverage. Realizing our faults, we have spent past weeks mulling issues such as why white survivors were seen as scavenging to stay alive, while black survivors were viewed as looters.
Luckily, the discussion seems to be working; so far we are keeping to task, focusing solely on our Katrina shortfalls and not allowing any other issues or stories - like, say, Hurricane Stan killing hundreds in Central America - to distract us from addressing our ethnic insensitivity.
Our coverage of local issues also merits review. Take first-responders for instance. We are always hearing about concerns with police presence or pay for firefighters, but one issue remains unaddressed: Can our town truly be safe when it is covered by only one Jambulance? With thousands of students throwing countless dance parties, can we really expect that Power 105 will be able to treat everyone who has a funk attack, a dislocated dance groove or serious injuries resulting from a crunk-off?
Similarly, our coverage of the debate regarding the proposed senior center on Stimson Avenue never seems to answer the tough questions. We address issues like city planning, flood plain alteration and increased traffic flow, but never look at whether Athens has the resources to provide what all seniors need: shuffle board.
Currently, the sporting goods department at our local Wal-Mart offers no shuffle board equipment. Sure, it can be ordered online, but if a puck pusher shatters in the middle of a heated playoff against Sunshine Acres, waiting 2-3 business days for shipping just won't cut it.
Examining ourselves on an overall level or even by individual media outlet, however, is not enough. We have to take it further, bringing it down to the individual level where we can see each journalist's individual biases and flaws and unsightly back hairs.
Take me for example. As a columnist in a student newspaper, I am faced with the task, under obligation to my readers, of surveying the events of our academic environment, turning a critical eye upon the university and, after sifting through a wealth of information, finding the proper context in which to make a fart joke.
However, I feel the best expression of the duties that as a journalist I, personally, must fulfill was articulated by FCC Commissioner Kevin J. Martin, when in a 2003 ruling he wrote, Despite my colleagues' assurance that there appeared to be a safe distance between the prostitute and the horse I remain uncomfortable.
Of course, it is hard for me to think so high-mindedly when my greatest ambition is to do for the word poop what Dave Barry has done for booger. That is, to make it commonplace for Joe Newsreader to encounter the word while reading the paper over breakfast. Of course, if he sleeps late and reads his paper over brunch, then he can go straight to hell. We as a journalistic community are opposed to the entire notion of brunch, though we retain a fondness for honeydew.
Though we have some established ethics and standards, we cannot assume that the media landscape will remain unchanged. We journalists must be vigilant, keeping abreast of all pertinent developments, with the knowledge - however frightening - that if we should fail, President McDavis will come for us with his laser.
- Noah Blundo is a senior journalism major. Send him an e-mail at nb344002@ohiou.edu.
17
Archives
Noah Blundo
