As long as the world spins, there is news. As long as there is news, there is journalism. Seems to make perfect sense but if trust in the media wanes, can we still call ourselves journalists?
Trust in journalists can always been low and according to this journalist rank even lower than politicians. Journalists stand at a mere 19% in the trust stakes. The only journalism that people seem to have in faith in is local journalism. This may suggest that the type of news coverage is just reaching out to people and people feel alienated from news. Is there anyway to salvage what is lost.
From the above video it seems that journalists have to go back to grass roots and be reminded of their role in the world. Perhaps this article, Six Roles or Job Duties of Modern Journalism, should be read by everybody who calls themself a journalist and could act as a reminder of what journalism should be. According to this, the roles of a journalist are;
- The Ethical Role: Swifter and more transparent dealings with ethics must be put in place in order for the public to regain any level of faith in journalism.
- The Guide/Filter Role: This means to guide people to the best news coverage that is out there and take the journalism out of the story.
- The Understanding and Context Role: Journalists should be able to get the bigger picture across and do so in a way that allows people the best understanding.
- The Conversation Leader Role: Journalists need to define what it is that makes news and bring about something meaty for readers/viewers/listeners to chew on.
- The Aggregator Role: Journalists should know as much as possible from as many sources as possible in order to be able to bring their message to the people they serve.
- The Straight News Role: Journalists have to be able to bring the most important news to the communities they serve as soon as possible.
