The truth about journalism
By DaToolGuy
I was debating in the comments section of a blog recently, when someone said “Journalists are the stupidest, laziest creatures on Earth.” Or words to that effect.
Being a full-time journalist during the day, and only a caped conservative crusader by night (mostly ’cause the caped crusader thing don’t pay the bills, something the comic books don’t mention,) I took a bit of umbrage at that.
However, I do understand why that misconception exists.
So often information is left out of stories or is just plain wrong, or it’s clear the reporter in question simply didn’t understand the information he was being given that it’s easy to see why people have such a bad opinion of us.
Add in the generally liberal bent of 80 percent of my colleagues and we all tend to look stupid and/or lazy at times.
The reality?
Well there certainly are some stupid and lazy journalists. Sometimes I think I’ve worked with most of them at one point or other in my career. But most are just overworked.
Look, in any 60 hour week — and most of us work at least that — he’s probably got 10 to 15 stories to file, these days he’s probably got to record some video segments for the Web, he has to update Facebook, tweet and probably build some pages as well.
Meanwhile he has cranky editors (that would be me) demanding changes to his stories, screaming for their copy and berating him when he’s five minutes late on deadline. He has upset sources and/or the public calling to yell at him and his family would probably like to see him in there somewhere.
It’s no accident that divorce rates among journalists mirror those of cops and firefighters. You work the same sorts of hours, for the same crappy pay, and for the guys in the trenches — community journalism — dealing with the same tragedies and crappy people.
Very few papers these days are owned by individuals. They’re owned by corporations called news groups. Many groups are large, 100 papers or more. They’re not run by journalists or even newspaper people who came up through advertising, editorial or circulation. They’re run by professional executives — bean counters.
They tend to see the newsroom as a loss leader. It doesn’t produce anything, but it does cost to run it. The newsroom salaries, while not large, are generally larger than anybody but the advertising staff who work on commission and make money. So when they’re looking for places to cut, that’s generally the first place they go.
The average journalist or editor is probably doing three people’s jobs.
So when he gets a complex story, he often does the best hecan, generally with a subject he has only nodding familiarity with, an unrealistic deadline and just no time.
So he does the best he can, hits the highlights, relys too much on press releases and hopes he got it right, and that he gave enough information hisreaders will dig deeper themselves because he just didn’t have the time to do it.
Is there some deliberate slanting? Yeah, there is, mostly at the flagship papers like the New York Times or the Washington Post.
At the average suburban daily or community weekly? Not so much. The reporters at the big papers don’t have a lot more time than those of us in the trenches at the community papers, but they do have a bit more — and they do slant things or selectively report. But even there, it’s more the editors making the assignments than the reporters doing the actual work.
This not to excuse sloppy journalism, it still shouldn’t happen, but next time you’re complaining about the mainstream media — and you should — try to remember the guy in the trenches at your local paper. He’s overworked, underpaid, probably well aware of his shortcomings and generally trying his best to do a difficult job well. He’s not doing it for the pay. He’s not even doing it for whatever small share of glory he might get.
No, he’s doing it because he hopes he might make some small difference in someone’s life and because he loves it. He’s doing it for you. So you’ll know what’s going on in your community. So your congressman can’t get away with taking that bribe.
This business is like a drug, and once it was in his system he just couldn’t dream of doing anything else. That once in a blue moon chance to help someone, or make things right. To expose corruption at city hall, or highlight that 7 year old kid who’s been collecting music for the troops. He lives for that.
It makes the late nights, the long hours, the lousy pay and the wife who’s threatening divorce because she he’s never home and the kids who hate him because he missed their play again all worth it.
Next time he misspells your name or confuses who said what at his third meeting of the week cut him a little slack huh?
Being a full-time journalist during the day, and only a caped conservative crusader by night (mostly ’cause the caped crusader thing don’t pay the bills, something the comic books don’t mention,) I took a bit of umbrage at that.
However, I do understand why that misconception exists.
So often information is left out of stories or is just plain wrong, or it’s clear the reporter in question simply didn’t understand the information he was being given that it’s easy to see why people have such a bad opinion of us.
Add in the generally liberal bent of 80 percent of my colleagues and we all tend to look stupid and/or lazy at times.
The reality?
Well there certainly are some stupid and lazy journalists. Sometimes I think I’ve worked with most of them at one point or other in my career. But most are just overworked.
Look, in any 60 hour week — and most of us work at least that — he’s probably got 10 to 15 stories to file, these days he’s probably got to record some video segments for the Web, he has to update Facebook, tweet and probably build some pages as well.
Meanwhile he has cranky editors (that would be me) demanding changes to his stories, screaming for their copy and berating him when he’s five minutes late on deadline. He has upset sources and/or the public calling to yell at him and his family would probably like to see him in there somewhere.
It’s no accident that divorce rates among journalists mirror those of cops and firefighters. You work the same sorts of hours, for the same crappy pay, and for the guys in the trenches — community journalism — dealing with the same tragedies and crappy people.
Very few papers these days are owned by individuals. They’re owned by corporations called news groups. Many groups are large, 100 papers or more. They’re not run by journalists or even newspaper people who came up through advertising, editorial or circulation. They’re run by professional executives — bean counters.
They tend to see the newsroom as a loss leader. It doesn’t produce anything, but it does cost to run it. The newsroom salaries, while not large, are generally larger than anybody but the advertising staff who work on commission and make money. So when they’re looking for places to cut, that’s generally the first place they go.
The average journalist or editor is probably doing three people’s jobs.
So when he gets a complex story, he often does the best hecan, generally with a subject he has only nodding familiarity with, an unrealistic deadline and just no time.
So he does the best he can, hits the highlights, relys too much on press releases and hopes he got it right, and that he gave enough information hisreaders will dig deeper themselves because he just didn’t have the time to do it.
Is there some deliberate slanting? Yeah, there is, mostly at the flagship papers like the New York Times or the Washington Post.
At the average suburban daily or community weekly? Not so much. The reporters at the big papers don’t have a lot more time than those of us in the trenches at the community papers, but they do have a bit more — and they do slant things or selectively report. But even there, it’s more the editors making the assignments than the reporters doing the actual work.
This not to excuse sloppy journalism, it still shouldn’t happen, but next time you’re complaining about the mainstream media — and you should — try to remember the guy in the trenches at your local paper. He’s overworked, underpaid, probably well aware of his shortcomings and generally trying his best to do a difficult job well. He’s not doing it for the pay. He’s not even doing it for whatever small share of glory he might get.
No, he’s doing it because he hopes he might make some small difference in someone’s life and because he loves it. He’s doing it for you. So you’ll know what’s going on in your community. So your congressman can’t get away with taking that bribe.
This business is like a drug, and once it was in his system he just couldn’t dream of doing anything else. That once in a blue moon chance to help someone, or make things right. To expose corruption at city hall, or highlight that 7 year old kid who’s been collecting music for the troops. He lives for that.
It makes the late nights, the long hours, the lousy pay and the wife who’s threatening divorce because she he’s never home and the kids who hate him because he missed their play again all worth it.
Next time he misspells your name or confuses who said what at his third meeting of the week cut him a little slack huh?
DaToolGuy in another incarnation is nationally-known blogger Patrick Richardson, contributor to PJMedia and editor at the Otherwhere Gazette. He’s also a small town journalist who’s spent most of his career laboring in the trenches.
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