Journalism seems to be one of the more contradictory professions in the world.
It wouldn’t surprise me if some of you despise all news outlets because of your observation of professional journalists. Lately, they have ignored objectivity, fairness and accuracy.
The Reflector staff went to the Southeast Journalism Conference last week. One would think this event would attract the journalists who care about their craft and the people they could affect. But one speaker proved our science is a fragile blueprint that many spit upon without a thought.
The speaker was Sam Feist, senior executive producer of political programming for CNN. At one point he mentioned the amount of material Vice President Dick Cheney provided CNN with the hunting accident. Feist laughed, and I winced.
After Feist finished his speech, he answered questions from the audience. Near the end of the session, I raised my hand and said, “Did you have any ethical questions with the coverage on Dick Cheney?” Feist didn’t answer my question.
Instead, he explained that Cheney was the first vice president since Aaron Burr to shoot someone. He said the delay of the story caused it to last longer.
Feist was right. If Cheney had reported the accident immediately, perhaps CNN wouldn’t have covered it as much. And yes, Cheney shares a similarity with Burr, even though the shootings were under different circumstances. Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, so the validity of the comparison somewhat falls apart.
However, I didn’t hear a thing about ethics in his answer. Maybe Feist had ethical questions, but he didn’t share the experience with the audience. Instead, he gave the typical answer for overblown coverage: it’s interesting.
I agree. Cheney’s accident is interesting. But it’s also unimportant. The incident had nothing to do with the well-being of America. It had nothing to do with the duties of the vice president. Instead, it had everything to do with magnifying someone’s personal life.
Meanwhile, I’ve heard Americans claim this incident proves Cheney’s incompetence as a leader. You would think Cheney became the first man in history to accidentally shoot someone.
Americans want to know about public figures and officials. It’s an almost neurotic fixation that stems from capitalism. The personal stories of famous people humanize them, making us believe that we could hit the capitalistic jackpot, too. The media exploits this social fixation with coverage like the Cheney accident.
Furthermore, just because Cheney didn’t report the incident immediately doesn’t mean journalists should frame the story in an exaggerated way. Cheney made a dumb move. But journalists made it seem dumb. Keep in mind that reporting a story and a major news outlet framing a story are totally different.
If I would have accidentally shot someone, I doubt the media would have cared as much, and I doubt people would have questioned my credibility as a journalist. Too bad Cheney can’t say the same thing about his life and job.
Fellow journalists, I encourage you to question your moves in the business. Don’t justify your actions because of pure interest or protection from the law. Objectivity and pensiveness are more essential than feeding off the public’s obsession with the private lives of public officials.
If you dislike journalists, I can’t blame you. They haven’t been asking the right questions lately.