Journalists.

What comes to a person’s mind when you ask them about journalists?

“Politicians’ toys that they use to sway people’s minds”

“Journalist give an idea of what’s happening... but not all what they say can be reliable”

“Exposes truth, scandals, corruption, exaggeration, misleading, tabloids, and no sense of privacy”

These are some of what my friends and family told me when I asked them. So far I haven’t met that many people who think to fondly of journalists.

I am a journalist, or at least I have a BA in Journalism. I haven’t actually worked for a newspaper but I am getting around to that soon. After four years of studying how to write leads, opinion pieces, bias and how not to be influenced by it, the “news” factor, what makes news, interviewing skills, about objectivity and how ownership of media affects decisions made, etc… After all that, I may not be really needed.

By “needed” I don’t mean that I won’t find a job at a newspaper and get promoted and so on, but that I, as a journalist, am not viewed anymore as a valuable contributor to society. Journalists were once considered trusted people in communities; exposing crime, corruption and getting the girl. Well, not that glamorous and not to that extent of course, but in general journalists were very trustworthy sources of information, unlike now. I knew that journalists weren’t trusted before I started my studies, it didn’t happen overnight, but I thought that in time and along with the advancements in technology perhaps the stereotype of journalists being misleading, untrustworthy and tools of the government would change.

I could go on for hours about the reasons that journalists have been stereotyped as distrustful, invading privacy and being Machiavellians because of sensationalising news, yellow journalism, etc… But it’s not because of that which makes me think journalists may not be needed.

One of the reasons I believe so are bloggers (other reasons include; broadcast media). We all know about bloggers and what they are so I won’t go into any detailed explanation of them. It is not just simply bloggers, its bloggers who self proclaim themselves as journalists. I am not saying that all bloggers can’t be journalists or that they wouldn’t be good journalists, but why don’t we leave the journalism to journalists?

It is true that bloggers do not have some of the same pressure that journalists face from the people who pay their salary, but while blogger may not face the same pressure, it leaves them to follow an agenda of their own purposely or not.

People train and study for certain professions to make a living and do their part for society. For example; would you buy furniture built by a tailor? Would you ask a butcher to perform surgery on you? Would you ask a chef to create you a computer database for a company? I would think in most cases you would say no to all of these. Journalists are trained to be accurate, professional, unbiased and objective. I think while blogging is an excellent way forward for journalism, it should not take its place.