Journalism

During my recent trip to Australia, a certain word came up rather frequently in discussing the work of reporters. "Relatable." I found this to be somewhat...not comical per se, but rather wryly amusing in that way I have. You see, I cannot imagine why it is important for *news* to be relatable. A human interest story? Of course that should be relatable. That's how Oprah rakes in her millions. But that is not news, and it is not, or at least *should* not, be the work of the investigative journalist. Tugging at people's heartstrings is not a worthy aim for journalists. Journalist have an unflinching duty to bring the facts, without bias, to people who do not have the resources or time to dig them up for themselves.

I also heard certain jouranalists and journalism students use the term, "passion." While I am certainly supportive of journalists having a passion for their jobs and for the news, I am extremely concerned by what appeared to be, at least among some, to be a passion for the subjects of their coverage. A journalist may be passionate about bringing the news to people, but she must be completely dispassionate about the topics on which she chooses to report. It seems that more and more, people, at least in the US, are loath to trust the news. I know I certainly am. I am unsure of any reporter's methods, and mistrustful that any news piece is free of bias, whether it be the bias of the reporter or the media outlet she works for.

I want the cold hard facts. I want facts that I can use in making my voting and purchasing decisions. I want to be given the freedom to take unadorned facts and come to my own informed opinion about them, without being swayed by the unannounced agenda of the journalist who thinks she knows better, or the over-emphasized annecdotal evidence that plays on the emotions, but fails to encapsulate the whole issue.

And, before I get accused of being the worst kind of hypocrite: I am *not* a journalist. I blog. I make it clear that I am not unbiased and I certainly am trying to sway you to a certain way of thinking. If this was not abundantly clear before, then I do apologize.

G'day!

I came back from Australia on the 31 of May, and have spent much of the time since sleeping. Sorry for the severe lack of posts lately. Considering how much there is to be angry over I really have no excuse. At any rate:

In Australia, they have many of the same hotbutton issues we do: big agribusiness, immigration issues, racism, etc. However, here is what they currently do that we could borrow from: mini-flush buttons, for when it just doesn't take much water to do the job; hotel lights that only work when the key is inserted into a special slot, thus making it impossible to leave lights on when the room is empty; and "Media Watch," a 15-minute program on the ABC (like the British BBC, rather than the American ABC) that points out the major lapses of the media.

While there, I had an interesting discussion with a Lebanese-American who was a part of my program. I acknowledged that Zionism did displace many Arabs in the area and that Israeli severely mishandled the war in Lebanon and that my sympathy with the Zionist movement was that I could understand the fear that moved Jews to feel the need for a safe haven and the feeling that it could not have been made anywhere other than in the location of Ancient Israel, but that didn't mean the founding of Israel didn't have serious problems. She acknowledged that anti-Jewish sentiment is a large part of what causes strife and that much of the Palestinian refugee problem has been caused and exasperated by neighboring Muslim nations. It was altogether a very civil discourse and I was quite proud of both of us.

Finally, as it is mid-year, I am going to rededicate myself to sticking to fair trade/organic chocolate, coffees, and teas. I am also going to work on decreasing my consumption of eggs and dairy and planning better to avoid being stuck outside the house in a position where I cannot do those things.

Stay tuned for a post on journalism.