NOW, LET US TALK JOURNALISM ( 2 ) : ALL NEWSPAPERS DO NOT REPORT A NEWS STORY THE SAME WAY BECAUSE….
By Kabs Kanu
There are many kinds of newspapers . First of all, there are QUALITY and POPULAR newspapers. This classification is not based on high standards of journalism or poularity in the normal sense . Media teachers divided newspapers into these categories because of their content, style of writing, medium and approach to matters of public interest.
Quality newspapers provide a more serious front and give detailed accounts of events as well as report on business, culture, sports and environment . Their reporting is often straightforward. Examples of quality newspapers are the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times , Dallas Morning News , The Times ( London ), Daily Telegraph, the Guardian of the UK etc.
The popular newspapers have a tabloid- format : Hilarious, witty, more thrilling and cover politics from a more partisan angle; they also cover celebrities, scandals , and sensational news. Examples are the New York Post, New York News , the London Daily Mail, Daily Sun, Daily Mirror, etc.
There are also different kinds of journalism: Investigative journalism, photojournalism, political journalism, Business and financial journalism, sports journalism, Entertainment and Arts journalism, celebrity journalism, science journalism, health journalism, opinion and editorial journalism, Data Journalism, watchdog journalism , Advocacy Journalism etc.
So, before you condemn a journalist for his content , style and approach, try to understand first the genre to which he or she belongs. You cannot condemn the Unity and The People ( SLPP newspapers ) and We Yone or Rising Sun ( APC newspapers ) for their heavy partisan content because they are political newspapers set up to promote their respective political parties . Are the journalists of these papers unfit to be called journalists ? Not by any sketch of imagination. They are bonafide journalists. They deserve every respect , like other journalists . They are political journalists and there is nothing wrong with that , as long as they adhere to the principle of accuracy with facts.
Because there are different kinds of newspapers with their respective themes and content:
1. OBJECTIVE JOURNALISM IS AN IDEAL TAUGHT IN JOURNALISM SCHOOLS BUT IS NOT PRACTICED ON THE FIELD ANYWHERE. LIke History, there is never any objective account. Historical and journalistic accounts are subject to the writer’s beliefs, ubringing, prejudices , knowledge etc. I do not care how careful a journalist is, his or her prejudices or personal beliefs will always affect their standpoints .
2. NO TWO NEWSPAPERS WILL REPORT THE STORY THE SAME WAY. Every news media has a mission, goal or agenda. Therefore, journalists have what is known as editorial independence and media are not compelled to report a story in the same way, nor are they required to follow every public perception. While journalistic ethics and standards encourage accuracy and fairness, editorial independence allows news organizations to make their own content decisions, including which stories to cover and how to present them. This is the reality of life.
3. PUBLIC INTEREST : Depending on where a journalist belongs, there are certain unpleasant or unpalatable stories that a newspaper must report in the public interest. If it is an opposition newspaper, the newspaper has a right to report that the government is harboring a convicted international drug baron, as long as the evidence points to the truth. Nobody has a right to condemn that newspaper or label it as an enemy of the state. The pro- government newspaper can write in defence of the government. It is their right. Both the SLPP journalist and APC journalist are entitled to their beliefs and opinions in consonance with the tenets of democracy . It is wrong to stigmatize or stereotype them.
Many Sierra Leoneans, even highly educated ones, display ignorance about these matters in journalism . They have placed journalists of the country in different uncomplimentary and stereotypical categories because they do not report the news as they would want it, in accordance with their party’s demands. A journalist promoting the APC is never good in the eyes of the SLPP supporter. Vice versa. But these distinctions are made because people are very ignorant about journalism.
VARIETY, THE SPICE OF LIFE
Another reason that journalists would not report the story the same way is to create varieties. If all newspapers wrote the news the same way and editors held the same opinions in their op/eds or editorials, journalism would have been very boring and people will not buy different newspapers. Why would I buy different newspapers if the same styles of reporting and the same opinions are published in them ? Variety is the spice of life . Readers need to get the news from different perspectives and they require to read or hear different interpretations of events. This ignites their appetite for public discourse and it aids in making them understand how segments of the national polity views events.
I am writing these series to help Sierra Leoneans disabuse their minds of their many misconceptions and ignorant beliefs about journalists and the news media.
Leave a Reply