Bob Schieffer, the 2013 Walter Cronkite Award for excellence in journalism recipient, answered some fundamental questions I have had about journalism? Often asked by public relations practitioners like me is the question to what extent should journalists publish leaked stories from government or private corporations. What do journalists seek to achieve by publishing classified information? In whose interest are the published leaks?
In this acceptance speech Bob, the host of “Face the Nation” and CBS News correspondent, said journalists and schools of journalism must basically recognize what journalism is in the new world.
Journalism is not about scratching the surface. It is about going beneath the surface and finding the truth. The government keeps too many secrets – we all know that – but obtaining and releasing mountains of classified information just because it is classified with no thought on whether it might harm, endanger or in fact put nation’s security and citizen safety at risk is not journalism. It is the hype of irresponsibility. We should never let someone in government think that they have an exclusive on wisdom, at the same time, we must also remember that neither do we.
In a world in which we are able to get information from thousands of sources and from various point of views, it is fundamentally important for journalists, bloggers, twitters and public relations practitioners to pay much attention to the content. Is the content accurate? Is it vetted? Is it true? Is the information something we can trust? And most importantly is it in the interest of the public?
Having watched the Fifth Estate, a film that reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power through WikLeaks, Bob’s speech answered two questions of our time “what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society-and what are the costs of exposing them?”
Do you agree that publishing leaks with no regard to the security and safety of the citizens is irresponsible journalism?
@kapoxxy
I agree with you Steven. We all are now in the worry of sharing instantly without really thinking much about the content, the quality and the impact of what we share. You pointed out a crucial issue.
Journalist are entitled to take ethical decisions. The public must ask for the truth. To me, media or institutions do more harm when they decide to show just one side of the story rather that the big picture.
Thanks for your comment Fernando. I agree media and institutions must all presents both sides of the coin. Often both don’t. Worse still, the public has no clue as to what is really the truth hence hard to demand it in the first place.
Journalist have entitlement to take ethical decisions. The public must obtain the truth. To me, media or institutions do more harm if they decide to show just one side in the story rather that the huge picture.
Yes. When the media is compromised people are led astray