Panel of journalists discusses importance of ethical communication
The panelists discuss their experience at "Behind the Headlines: Truth in the Era of Lies" on Nov. 13 in Moore 105.
A panel of journalists discussed the importance of ethical communication and what it’s like to be a journalist in today’s society.
The event, "Behind the Headlines: Truth in an Era of Lies" took place on Tuesday in Moore 105 and was hosted by the Society of Professional Journalists.
The panel, comprised of Garret Ellison, Tony Wittkowski, Sydney Smith, Chad Livengood and Nicholas Green, emphasized how word choice can create a bias or completely change the meaning.
For example, a newspaper will say President Donald Trump “incorrectly stated” a fact on Obamacare rather than saying he lied about it.
“If you just say that he incorrectly stated nobody relies on Obamacare, and then you back it up: ‘here’s the eight million people that are relying on it...' You’re proving him wrong. You’re proving him a liar without calling him a liar," said Livengood.
Calling someone a liar can turn away a crowd from an article when it may be important for them to read it.
Similarly, the panel agreed journalists must be objective.
“As a journalist, I’m not here to tell you what to think; I’m here to tell you what to think about,” said Smith.
She said in her stories, she tries not to use flowery or bias language. She works to present the facts straightforward and be objective. To her, objective means strictly presenting the facts without putting personal bias into the article.
“I like knowing that being ethical as a reporter is being pushed for the students at Central,” said South Lyon junior Hunter Peters. “I really think that’s very important in any climate.”
Green said he believes being objective is important, but it’s not always an easy task.
“Being objective is being objective. It’s 100 percent facts. There’s no ‘you can sway it this way or another,’ but the way you present [the facts], you will always have kind of a little bit of a slant or a lean,” he said.
Green said knowing your audience is important. He said a journalist could write two stories using the same facts, but depending on how they are presented, the audience might choose to read one story over the other.
Finally, the journalists shared what it’s like to be a journalist in today’s climate.
Green said he doesn’t think journalists or the media in general is placed in a good light today. The panel collectively agreed that much of negativity towards journalism stems from “fake news.”
“I think fake news is just a term of the moment for what used to be an accusation of biased reporting,” said Ellison.
Green said because of fake news, we must be critical of what we are reading and check the facts.
Despite the negative connotation associated with media, they all agreed how rewarding being a journalist can be.
“I get to tell people stories for a living; I get to meet new people just about every day when I get out of the office,” said Wittkowski. “If that’s not a good enough reason to wake up and take all this on, then I don’t know what is.”
