A. Michael Noll
April 8, 2024
© Copyright 2024 AMN
[Posted with the permission of the author, A. Michael Noll. This post is a great example of the Fifth Estate, holding the press more accountable.]
Contrary to the “conventional wisdom,” journalism is not dead — the study and conduct of good journalism is as important as ever – perhaps even more so now. The problem today is that there seems to be much bad journalism; what I call lazy and immature journalism.
Recently, New Jersey experienced an earthquake of magnitude 4.8. The last time this occurred was over a century ago. The media jumped on this, but focused on New York City. Bridges and tunnels were given attention, along with a chimney that might have collapsed in Brooklyn. All this was nearly 50 miles from the epicenter of the quake in New Jersey, and at this distance any damage would be nonexistent for a quake of this magnitude. Virtually no media attention was given to New Jersey, which was at the epicenter.
There is a large reservoir (Round Valley) and an earthen dam in Lebanon’s back yard, and any potential damage to the dam might be of concern – but nothing was reported. There is also a freeway overpass there too. But I guess New Jersey does not matter, or is too much trouble to visit. This is an example of lazy journalism.
In the past, newspapers and magazines were how information got to the public, with hours and even days of delay. Then broadcast radio came a long, followed by television. We all watched the lunar landing as it occurred, along with the riots in our major cities. We listened to – and believed — the commentary by Walter Cronkite. Who are the trusted commentators today? It seems that today sensationalism and crazed conspiracies obtain all the attention, but perhaps that was true in the past also. I recall a supermarket paper claiming such entertaining fictions as little green people on Mars. Today, the entertaining fiction is extraterrestrials that are kept captive in Nevada; some people want to believe fiction.
The principles of neutral, factual reporting and documentation are as essential as ever. In the past that was accomplished by speaking to people and taking paper notes. Then came the microphone and tape recorder, followed by the video recorder. Today, it seems everything is social media, with rumors, conspiracies, fiction, lies, and self-promotion, so that noting can be believed. Factual trusted sources are more important than ever. Journalists are the chroniclers of history; checking and getting verified facts correct along with documentation are essential.
The new technology mostly creates a broader and larger audience through a variety of media: print, text, audio, video. Information and news are distrusted worldwide nearly instantly. We do not have to wait for a newspaper to be delivered across an ocean.
The “how’s” of good journalism will always be essential. How to conduct an interview? How to check facts? How to tell the story? How to summarize and be clear – how to get to the point? In broadcast journalism, how to appear on camera and speak clearly? This all takes study and practice – and a good journalism program of study.
The study of journalism should include how to write a good opinion piece. I still recall one of my first op-eds. A colleague told me to take my closing and place it at the beginning. The academic scientific style of building to a conclusion and stating it at the end was simply not the way to capture the attention of a reader. I had much to learn.
Another “how” is how to pay for good journalism. We paid for paper newspapers at newsstands, and broadcast over-the-air TV was “free” but for ads. Today with the Internet and the World Wide Web, journalism seems threatened. But some are willing to pay to subscribe for good journalism – print and Internet. Payment models are evolving, and old-fashioned paper still is cherished by a small number of readers. But the huge and plentiful full-page ads of the past seem ancient history today.
Good factual reporting, the conduct and reporting of interviews and facts, are all important, regardless of how the “story” gets to the public – be it newspapers, radio, TV, or the Internet. Today, the “story” is sent instantly over optical fiber under oceans, or from satellite circulating the planet – everywhere. Journalists are the tellers of the stories, with an essential role of credibility.
A. Michael Noll is professor emeritus of communication at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, where he was dean for a two-year period in the early 1990s. He always advocated the broad synergy of communication (the theoretical) with journalism (the practical). He has worked in communication research at Bell Telephone Laboratories, in government at the Executive Office of the President, and in marketing at AT&T. He is also an early pioneer in digital art and animation.