Week 11, March 23, 25

I am a firm believer that democracy is not for everyone, that democracy is only for the mature and responsible person. This is because democracy is a huge responsibily to shoulder and not everyone can act responsibly. The same goes to the freedom of speech and via extension, journalism.

Here are the elements of journalism:

1. Journalism's first obligation is to the
truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to the citizens.
3. Its essence is discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an
independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent
monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public
criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant
interesting, and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive
and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to
exercise their personal conscience.

Although people may critique the media for the representation and coverage of news, that it is biased and skewed and whatnot, I still think that only qualified personnel should be allowed to produce news. There are many issues that are very debatable and I am too lazy to get into. However, I do think that professional journalism will not be overtaken by Internet journalism.

While journalism as an industry is not keeping to the lofty standards set, this does not mean that citizen journalism is the perfect alternative. I believe that many of us have come across blogs or whatnot that just present opinions as facts and vice versa. To people who are trained to think critically, this would not pose an issue as we understand that we cannot take everything at face value, not even the news. However, to the less informed, they may accept everything that they see.

Anonymity is another issue that poses a problem to news and journalism on the Internet. Nobody knows who is saying what anymore. With the advent of weblogs, it is easier to say things that are not true when behind the computer screen, to appear to sound authorative, to say whatever's on your mind without thinking it through or checking sources and assorted unethical behaviours. If it doesn't get the response you seek, just go on to a new blog. After all, it's free and easy to use. This means that there is a lack of accountability and one can do anything he/she wants.

However, there are sites out there that provide the news in a balanced and responsible. It is just that they are the exception, rather than the rule. Most 'journalistic' websites or blogs are in my opinion, just a facade, a cover for them to mouth off and spread rubbish.

Citizen journalism? Bah! How can one be a citizen journalist if he/she don't know what is journalism and is not trained in it? I do know a bit of medicine and I could learn more on my own but does that make me a citizen doctor? Granted that there are good citizen journalists out there, with all due respect I salute you for making a difference. But majority are not citizen journalists; they are just people mouthing off. Sensationalism seems to be the name of the game. Trained personnel without ethics is one thing, untrained personnel without ethics is another.