It is difficult for journalists to balance lives of a celebrity and their career as a public informer. I think a pure understanding of a journalist's role can help them understand that they are to act as advocates to the public instead of puppets to paparazzi. The book says, "Celebrity-worship and hero-worship should not be confused. Yet we confuse them every day, and by doing so we come dangerously close to depriving ourselves of real models. We lose sight of the men and woman who do not simply seem great because they are famous because they are great. We come closer and closer to degrading all fame into notoriety." I hope that journalists realize they should act as heroes, not celebrities. The power of journalism can be found in knowledge. People rely on journalists to provide information that leads to knowledge. The desire to be a celebrity can rob a journalist of their powerful influence on the public.
One of the clips we saw in class recently shows the difference between the desire to be a celebrity and the desire to be a voice for the people. When Jon Stewart went on Crossfire he called the anchors "bipartisan hacks," and that is exactly what they were doing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE. The anchors for Crossfire were more interested in fame than being voices for the public. They had become puppets to political leaders.
How do we avoid becoming too wrapped up in popularity. One simple way is to report the truth. The truth hurts, and at times is the fastest way to lose popularity in the public eye while still gaining respect. Sports writer, Rick Reilly, is the greatest sports writer of our generation, but he manages to separate himself from the celebrity world. He does it by giving honest reports on what is happening in the world of sports, just as he did this last week with an article written about Tiger Woods and his negligence towards his half brother http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/page/MastersRickReilly/tiger-brother. The article is truthful, but is not the most popular thing to be writing when Tiger is gaining momentum as the fan favorite going into the Masters.
It is amazing how often the truth is the solution to many of the problems in journalism. Writing truthfully will help you gain respect while allowing you to avoid becoming engulfed in a celebrity lifestyle. Truth will liberate both the journalist and the consumer http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/8.32?lang=eng#31.
No comments:
Post a Comment