Thursday, June 26, 2008

GETTING THE FACTS 2

Well dw is not finished when it comes to you journalists who need to get your acts together.

"Right, which brings me to my next question. Why are you all wasting your time trying to correct 'journalists' who seem to have no desire to improve? I know I'm sounding cynical here, but really, after all these years of doing journalism, you're telling me that our reporters still can't get the basics right? What's wrong with this picture?

"Three things: i) media owners who care only about the bottom line; that is, hire the most starry-eyed and/or desperate young journalists and pay them next-to-nothing to fill pages ii) a public that doesn't care about quality journalism and has no real understanding of the crucial role media and journalism play in a society iii) 'journalists' who have no respect for the profession and by extension little respect for themselves If journalists don't respect their own profession, why should anybody take them seriously? If media owners only want to pay pennies, how can they attract and keep the best talent? If the public cared more about the quality of information they receive the media houses would have to improve.

"It's a complicated thing, our local media industry, and I wish among you you could find the answers to all the ills facing the industry. But at the rate we're going 2020 might come and go and you all will still be highlighting elementary journalism mistakes on your blog. I wish you all well."
"thanks"
"dw"

Well dw, we couldn't have put it better ourselves.