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USA Edition | Today Is Monday, September 6, 2010 |
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| Browsing Mikael Blaisdell Materials | 4 Items Found | ||
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A Place For Examining Issues
While the search engines bring ever more people to Newsroom from around the world in a dozen different languages, it isn’t the swift rise of the Newsroom address in the page rankings that has driven our increase in audience — it’s the personal references from concerned readers to their own communities that extend the volume.
Mikael Blaisdell, Newsroom Magazine
If you care about the profession of journalism and its meaning in, and to, a free society, you’ve come to a place whose purpose is thoughtful discussion about the key issues of that subject. With a commitment to the classic journalistic code of ethics, Newsroom Magazine quietly began publication two years ago today. The magazine’s mission is to speak to the state of this honorable calling, and to inform the public of why the decay in the Fourth Estate is important. From a handful of English-only readers to today’s burgeoning worldwide multilingual audience, from a relatively simple presentation to the current media and content-rich layout; a lot of change has happened in our Newsroom in those 24 months. The details of the change, however, are not what’s important. The significance is that the conversation about the role and practice of journalism is spreading outward and gaining in volume. Questions are being asked. Concerns are being noticed. The possibility of something more may be forming.
Oddly Reassured?
San Francisco – On CNN, regarding the alleged corruption case involving Illinois’ Governor Rod Blagojevich, nationally-syndicated columnist Ruben Navarette Jr. says he’s “oddly reassured” by the scandal. “In Illinois,” he writes, “federal prosecutors, the press and the governor’s office are all endowed with the public’s trust and they’re all expected to honor it. Two out of three ain’t bad.” Citing Blagojevich’s supposed demand that some editors be fired as evidence of their professional success, Navarette goes on to claim that “True to their creed, journalists are supposed to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
Failed Logic, Wrong Conclusions
Cable News Network's Atlanta Newsroom
Unfortunately, Navarette’s argument that the Blagojevich case ought to be taken as evidence of the press honoring the public’s trust rings false. His apparent view of his profession as being an admixture of priest and romantic Robin Hood roles misses the mark by a wide margin, for it admits to no degree of responsibility. The purpose of the profession, as described in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, and discussed here on Newsroom, is to inform the public, to equip them with the accurate information they need in order to fulfill their duty as citizens in making responsible choices in a democratic society. Playing comforter/afflicter in a game of “gotcha,” attacking popular topics and people for personal and media outlet profitability, while it may be good business, merits neither the name of journalism nor the public’s trust.
The Stirrings of Change
CBS Newsman Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow’s speech before the Radio and Television News Director’s Association fully fifty years ago sounded an alarm. The media was failing in its job to inform the public, Murrow said, and there was no sustained and regular critical commentary about the functioning of the press to be found. The selection of the Murrow transcript as Newsroom Magazine’s very first published article was no accident. That this article today remains among the most requested and read of all the posts published since is significant. In journalistic parlance, this story has legs. It isn’t going to go away, and it shouldn’t.
Addressing The Elephant In The Room
Even as Newsroom Magazine was being built, there were serious doubts expressed about the mission. Were people ready to listen? The tone of Newsroom’s voice: not inflammatory, not pandering to the emotions; and the magazine’s commitment to being on-message has brought and retained an international audience that continues to powerfully grow. There are other publications with far greater audience levels; it isn’t the numbers alone that is of significance. There are other publications that also refrain from using charged language and appeals to raw emotion. And there are even some that offer critical and regular commentary about the press. But the combination of voice, mission and substantial continued growth are cause for cautious hope. The mission of Newsroom Magazine is to both speak to what has become of journalism, and as Murrow did, to inform the public of the possible consequences of permitting the media owners to pursue personal profitability instead of earning the public’s trust.
The Continuing Conversation
A year ago, I wrote that it was time to turn up the volume of the challenging voices that say there is much more to journalism than profit for media owners. The growth in Newsroom’s audience shows that the conversation has indeed become more widespread. The voices are getting louder. While the search engines bring ever more people to Newsroom from around the world in a dozen different languages, it isn’t the swift rise of the Newsroom address in the page rankings that has driven our increase in audience — it’s the personal references from concerned readers to their own communities that extend the volume.
Young People In Search Of Values
Broadcast Journalism Student, Iceland
From college campuses in Canada, China, India, Iceland, and more than a hundred other countries; multi-page visits from major economic and governmental centers worldwide, and more than a few visits from the corporate headquarters of the major media companies; people come, read and share what they’ve found with others.
The Newsroom team has grown as well over the past two years. New contributors have added to the voice with fresh viewpoints and material. The opportunity to directly add your own voice to the publication remains open. Readers are encouraged to submit articles of their own, or to react to what is published here by letters to the editor. Whether by writing or by interaction within your own circles of friends, family and acquaintances, continuing the conversation is the goal.
Click here to contact Newsroom