I recently read an editorial about blogging that appeared in the April issue of Desert Exposure, a very successful monthly tabloid coming out of Silver City, NM. The editor, David A. Fryxell, has an extensive background in print journalism. His editorial is titled "The J-Word," and is subtitled, "When bloggers start to play at being journalists, readers have a right to expect the same standards of accuracy and fairness." We haven’t even gotten to the editorial yet, and he’s already thrown down the gauntlet. Bloggers "playing at being journalists," indeed. Journalistic "accuracy and fairness," indeed.
Here are some choice quotes from the editorial, followed by my comments:
No lives depend on what journalists do.
Fryxell conveniently ignores the role of journalists in railroading us into war in 2003. Not only were journalists complicit, they were an integral part of the Bush Administration’s war strategy. Journalists have blood on the hands – the blood of literally hundreds of thousands of people – and we will never forgive them for this.
Some have hailed the rise of various forms of digital distribution of information and opinion—Web forums, blogs, email lists—as a healthy check on the arrogance of the mainstream media, and I suppose this can be true. Proponents praise blogs and other personal publishing via the Internet as ushering in a new era of independent voices, unfettered by the hidebound ways of Old Media. I suppose this can be true as well, though I can't help wondering who has time to read all these blogs and whether this audience—and the bloggers too—shouldn't perhaps get a life instead.
Some have said that Fryxell has his head up his ass, and I suppose this can be true. And the bit about "getting a life" -- this is a cheap caricature, a product of Fryxell’s imagination. In his mind, bloggers (and their readers) are evidently geeks living in their parents’ basements, eating raman noodles and playing dungeons and dragons when they aren’t blogging.
When people start to get their "facts" from blogs and email postings, however, when they begin to invest amateurs with the trust previously reserved for journalism professionals, suddenly those hidebound ways [the so-called tenets of professional journalism] look pretty important.
Trust? Journalism professionals? Whoa! What planet are we on here? I am grateful to Daily Kos and all the other blogs for the "facts" (in Fryxell’s estimation) they make available. No longer do we have to trust the "journalism professionals" for our information. No longer do the "professionals" have the monopoly on defining what is, and what is not, "news." For this we can be grateful.
...if electronic instant journalists want to play the game, they have to abide by the same rules of fairness, even-handedness, transparency and, above all, accuracy. And when they critique mainstream media, bloggers had better be prepared to have themselves held to the same standards.
Rules? Standards? Fairness? Accuracy? What planet has he been living on the past 15 years? And as we all know, there are plenty of bloggers who maintain a higher standard than that commonly shown by the "professionals," many of whom have earned the nickname "media whores" for good reason.
Next he gives a list of professional standards bloggers should follow, starting with "Don’t attack people’s character in the guise of attacking their ideas." But this is what he just did to bloggers, with his slams about "playing at being journalists" and "get a life."
Other proposed standards include: check your facts, give people an opportunity to respond, present both sides of the story, put it in context, don’t be a hypocrite, don’t criticize something you’ve never actually seen, and don’t steal others’ intellectual property. Wouldn’t it be great if professional journalists (particularly those at the top of the food chain) actually followed these standards? Imagine: our side presented as well! Context, i.e., connecting the dots! No more hypocrisy! Fact checking! What a world that would be!
Come to think of it, yes, there are days when I'm pretty proud to be a Journalist. I may not save anybody's life or put a scofflaw in jail today, but by golly at least I'll get my facts straight and try to be fair in my reporting. For those who try to follow the same rules in the brave new world of blogs and such, I say, welcome aboard! As for the rest, well, maybe it's time to unplug.
Proud of being a journalist? Whatever. There are, admittedly, some good journalists out there; more power to them. Too bad there are so few of them at the top rungs of their profession. About "unplugging" -- gosh, I guess that means the right-wing blogs will have to go offline now.
In conclusion, this editorial gives us a rare glimpse into the thought process of a print journalist. I had no idea he is so arrogant and out of touch. He has always come across as cautiously liberal, cautiously pro-environment. (His paper is totally dependent on advertising, so naturally he avoids offending his advertisers. Typically, he phrases his opinions very delicately.) Evidently he saw criticizing bloggers as an opportunity to play the role of tough guy without having to worry about blowback from his advertisers.