hackbash

You know, Charlie and I have spent a lot of time thinking about, and talking about whether what we’re doing at iCrossing is journalism. After a conversation I had at the weekend, I’ve decided to stop worrying about it.

The discussion in question was with a best friend of some 24 years; a journalist for longer than me and Charlie put together. He says that journalists have no responsibility towards their readers.

Come again?

Matt’s wider point is that a publication’s only responsibility is to profit and be successful: why should it concern itself with giving the readers anything other than what they’ll consume? What other corporation, he argued, puts its customers’ interests above its own?

I’m taken aback by the cynicism of the argument. Successful publishing really is a ruthlessly profitable machine, and the profits do come from giving the reader what they want. But implicit in our readers’ wants are an assumption that they’re not being lied to, manipulated or otherwise taken for a ride. It’s at the core of our job that we respect that.

There are many reasons for what we do, and countless variations on how we do it. I’m not naive enough to believe that every one of us fully subscribes to the high ideals outlined in the CCJ’s nine Principles of Journalism, but I think that any journalist is in trouble if they can’t at least nod their head to the second:

While news organizations answer to many constituencies, including advertisers and shareholders, the journalists in those organizations must maintain allegiance to citizens and the larger public interest above any other if they are to provide the news without fear or favour. This commitment to citizens first is the basis of a news organization’s credibility, the implied covenant that tells the audience the coverage is not slanted for friends or advertisers…

The theory underlying the modern news industry has been the belief that credibility builds a broad and loyal audience, and that economic success follows in turn. In that regard, the business people in a news organization also must nurture–not exploit–their allegiance to the audience ahead of other considerations.

Tags: cynicism, ethics, responsibility