As news has become entertainment and news rooms profit centers, there is less emphasis on what is newsworthy and more on what will sell advertising.
I feel great empathy for the true journalist who strives to research and write a story on a topic that is timely, will appeal to a great number in the audience, but is a dull story without blood, glory or glitz.
We feed stories to these journalists on a regular basis. But, can we help them influence the assignment editors and the “team leaders” (no one seems to want to be called “editor” anymore)?
The recent ethical scandals concerning VNRs and print stories placed by agents of special interests without disclosure says perhaps we are part of the problem. How do we turn that around? I don’t have an answer, but would like to engage in some dialogue about what impact the changing focus and philosophy about what is news has on our profession.
Barbara Puffer, Puffer Public Relations Strategies
| Comments |
| RE: Where have all the journalists gone? (2) |
| RE: Where have all the journalists gone? In my classes at University of Maryland University College, sessions on public relations are listed/called “journalism.” I’d always seen a distinct difference in my career. Overlap, yes, but distinct difference, also. In fact, our textbook and classroom lectures take the time to describe differences between the two, as well as other related disciplines. If we are training our up and coming PR folks to think THEY are journalists and/or they are confused that the two professions are one, it’s no wonder they believe everything they do IS news. I think we have to teach the ethics as an integral part of all of our college curricula in this field, and I think we must continue to impress on our peers about ethics in the profession. Sure, you’ll say, we’ve been doing this all along. Well, we cannot stop because the professional workforce is always churning as the younger professionals enter and older professionals retire out. That’s my two cents… |
