Jerry Furhman from over at From On High is impressed with the Sacred Hearts University study on the state of journalism in America.
I’m just surprised it came out of Sacred Heart.
I remember long ago some TV talk show hosting several successful women from different professions and from various points around the country. One of them was then-ABC News reporter/anchor Carole Simpson*. One of the questions she was asked by an audience member had to do with the reason for her having gotten into journalism. Her reply (in so many words): “To make the world a better place.”
Journalism – a tool to affect social change.
It’s been downhill for this bunch since that mindset took hold in the 60’s and 70’s.
Indeed. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, it was extremely popular for journalists to take “man on the street” approaches to news. Many of these observations were collected into books and sold popularly, a few of which my grandfather collected and I own in my library today.
The observations are fascinating, ranging from New Deal politics to Hitler’s “War of Terror” against France and England during the ‘phony war’, with the Nazis constantly rushing to the brink or throwing out hopes for peace in the span of three to four days. The journalist described it as exasperating… and understandably so.
Unfortunately, journalism isn’t in the business of getting the story right . They are in the business of getting the story. At the end of the day, they have to sell newspapers and advertising space, and you don’t do that with dry, factual analysis.
And let’s face it — good storytellers, journalists, bloggers, and writers are far and few between.