Diving in - Part 1 - Journalism
Laying down some markers in order to finally get writing about current affairs
For quite some time now, I've been preparing to write regularly about current affairs - politics, economics, and so forth. And for quite some time now, I've had an analogy in my head.
I'm standing on the shore of a raging river, preparing to dive in - preparing myself to keep swimming (or to drown). Let's be honest - it's easier just sit on the shore. But I feel compelled to jump in the water anyway.
Still, it can be hard to figure out when and where to do that. The obvious answer is to just do it, of course. Still, before I do so, I feel like it matters to lay down some markers - to explain the basic outlines of where I'm coming from. This is that post.
I am a liberal and journalist. (Or am I?)
For many in media business, this is going to seem like a quaint way to start, but for those not in the biz, I imagine this might seem like a contradiction. Yes, I am both a liberal and journalist.
Regarding the liberal part, I’ll address that in future posts. For now, let me focus on the journalist part.
If you look at the dictionary definition of journalism, you’ll find, among others:
writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation
I think this is the definition many laypeople have in mind when they think of journalism. But that’s what I would call “reporting”. When reporting on events, we really do want journalists - let’s call them, you know, “reporters” - to give us a straightforward presentation of what has actually happened.
But reporting is just a subset of journalism. Journalism is far broader. It’s any relatively short-form media product that attempts to describe and help comprehend current affairs in the world. By this understanding, that can include interpretation.
But if that’s the case, why not just call journalism mere opinion?
This is where the classic journalistic values come in. Journalism needs to be factual, accurate, well-researched, fair-minded, and transparent. It’s those last two elements that always stood out to me.
Journalists - like all humans - can’t help but interpret the world around them. We’re all limited creatures and stuck with certain perspectives and biases. No one can be “objective”. (For example, this process of interpretation starts right at the beginning with deciding what’s “news” and what’s not.)
But even while interpreting, journalists can still strive not to distort what’s going on simply to make a point. Consciously distorting events, statements, positions, etc. is the realm of political communications and public relations - and even propaganda. Taking a fair-minded approach is the path to avoiding distortions.
Regarding transparency, that can take on two forms. First, journalists should strive to make it clear how and why they are approaching a topic. In the parlance, they should “show their work”. Individual journalists should also be transparent. That means they should make it clear where they are coming from on an issue. Reporters, as defined above, don’t necessarily need to do this, but anyone who ventures into interpretation should.
By the way, journalists make mistakes. But very often they publicly correct their mistakes. (Sometimes it can take a lot of cajoling, for sure.) That’s part of transparency - and dare I say, honesty - as well.
What I Won’t Do
So, there are the journalistic standards by which you can judge my work. As I mentioned, I’ll get to the liberal values I hold in future posts.
Let me wrap up with a couple final thoughts about my approach to journalism and writing.
First, with journalism and any kind of media, you want an audience, of course. As an individual journalist, you want people to read/watch/listen to your work. Audience is also how you make money from practicing journalism, which is no small thing.
That said, these desires and imperatives work against the proper practice of journalism, especially in the world of social media. For example, being fair and nuanced is not rewarded:
Yet, lobbing out pieces just to stoke outrage and get audience goes against my temperament, training, and ethics. But it could also be a prescription for irrelevance. Ah, well. Let' see how it goes.
Get out of your national bubble
One final idea for this initial post - I believe that there is much to learn from international comparisons. It is far too easy to get trapped in the thinking of your own country and culture. For example, while Americans might think that our system produces the greatest results by any measure, when it comes to social welfare, that’s just not true. I’ll try to work as many of these comparisons into my work as possible.
It’s also a guiding principle of the podcast I co-host with my partner Nikolaj, Foreign Influence.
Please check it out when you get a chance.
Ready to read my second post? Click on!
Bill