Journalists' 1st Loyalty: The Public

The title says it all. Journalists' first loyalty is to the citizens. Easy? I think not.

Journalists should act as mediators rather than reporters. Therefore, they must become independent of their company and realize who they are truly working for. A commitment must be made.

Here is an article from Poynter called The Ethics of Civic Journalism: Independence as the Guide that discusses what it means to be independent as a journalist as well as their relationship with the public.

The business relationship of journalism is portrayed by a triangle. At one corner is the citizen. At another is the news organization. At the third is the advertiser/customer. A journalist must work between all three of these influences pulling at them. However, the citizen remains at the top of the triangle, where the journalist's first loyalty lies.

So why must journalists' first loyalty be to the public? Why is it so important?

Once again, that is how you gain trust and credibility. Besides, isn't that who we are serving? Isn't that the point of journalism? To inform the public? And if that is our job, then the citizens must be put above any other influences that we may have. That is also how you keep truth and ethics in your writing. If you let your news organization become your first loyalty, then maybe that will influence you to put something not completely truthful or ethical in your writing to make it more interesting, thus acquiring more readers and making your company more successful. But that is not right, and completely destroys the meaning of true journalism.

This slide show discusses some of the points I have made in this post as well as further thought into why problems may arise concerning the loyalty of a journalist.

Here are five ideas taken from the book The Elements of Journalism of how companies can protect journalists' allegiance to the public:
1. The owner/corporation must be committed to citizens first.
2. Hire business managers who also put citizens first.
3. Set and communicate clear standards.
4. Journalists have final say over news.
5. Communicate clear standards to the public.

I especially like the third and fifth points. Clear communication is extremely important when it comes to journalism, not only between you and your business, but especially between you and the public. If the citizens do not understand what your standards are or what your purpose is, then you are going to have a problem. You need to let them know that you are dedicated to them and you are there to tell them the absolute truth no matter what. You need to gain their trust. This includes admitting when you are wrong or have made a mistake. A lot of times when this happens, journalists just ignore it and hope no one will notice or remember. But this does not show your loyalty to them. Show them that you are willing to admit your faults, no matter how humiliating. It may be hard, but they will grow to see that you truly do care about them and are willing to put them first before anything else.