By Claire Theobald
As journalists, we are often mistaken for robots. Not necessarily in the “Oh my god! Look at that guy!! He is a six-foot-tall machine that walks on weird metal legs and talks like T-pain!!” kind of way, but more in the sense that journalists are expected to completely disregard their own natural bias and separate their emotions entirely when following a story. This is especially difficult if, like pretty much everyone in the western world, you happen to be a fan of anything. Inevitably, the journalist will find themselves in the situation where they are brought face-to-face with a person with whom they have a deep respect (or simply a person they think is the proverbial shit) and are expected to approach that person as if they were any other interviewee. Such was the case of a poor media mogul at a recent event on Churchill Square.
On March 30th, fans and media alike gathered to witness a celebration for Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Pressed up against the railings, people pushed and shoved either hoping to get that last signature on a collectors jersey, or to get that last amazing photograph or interview of the athletes for tomorrows news cast. One by one, athletes stood at the opposite side of the railing signing autographs and smiling for cameras; Vivian Forest for the Para-Alpine Ski was no exception. It was here that a representative sent up to gather quotes from Forest made the fatal journalistic error. Instead of asking her questions, the representative commended her on her amazing performance, and gushed over what an inspiration she was. As if this didn’t get his boss fuming already, he then handed over one of his own possessions and asked her for an autograph. Upon returning to the camera crew he came with, he was thoroughly chewed-out. I can only speculate that the likelihood of his ever returning to one of these events will be slim to none.
This unfortunate journalist crossed the invisible line, a boundary set in place for the protection of integrity and credibility. Journalists are expected, in a hard news story at least, to represent facts truthfully and unembellished. Journalists must do their best to report all sides of the story equally, an endeavor that would be rendered impossible if the journalist’s scope is limited by personal bias.
Although one cannot expect a journalist to become entirely robotic, the reader expects that the journalist put their own feelings on the shelf and allow the truth to come forward on its own through interpretation of the facts. Fellow future journalists, listen closely, and learn from the mistakes of those who have gone before you (specifically, the guy in paragraph two). When faced with subject matter where you feel so strongly you cannot safely choke back your emotions, hand it to someone else. Although you cannot be expected to be robotic, you can be expected to uphold the principals and practices of good journalism.
(NOTE: Photograph taken from Galen's Robot Projects Website, link here)
This is such a touchy subject- where is this "invisible line of credibility," I ask? It seems as if it is so dependant on the media outlet that you work for, as well as the situation that you are in what is appropriate to do and what is not. It is in my opinion that that particular reporter wouldn't have done anything wrong had he obtained the story that he had come to get. If he gets the questions answered that need to be in order to complete an accurate and full story, then I don't feel as if he would have done anything wrong by gushing over someone that he respected afterwards, or asking for an autograph. As long as whatever is written/reported is fair and unbiased, no line was crossed. After all, we are humans and not robots, and I think that a little passion for humanity and a little gushing to those that we think are amazing can be a wonderful thing.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. If you're going to gush, let someone else cover the story. That doesn't mean you have to pass it on if you respect the interviewee; having previous knowledge of the person will likely give you insight into the story that another journalist would've missed out on. But gushing is definitely never acceptable.
ReplyDeleteCall me a robot, but I don't think autographs are acceptable under any circumstance. I would say the journalist in your post crossed a very visible line.
Well written post. Kudos.