Media outlets in America are in constant reinvention and yet some things remain the same.
One of my final projects when I was studying for my degree in Communication and Journalism consisted of producing our own magazine as a class. It clearly became a prototype with hundreds of graphic and editing errors – words that made no sense, glaring typos, photos that had no technique, and blank spaces awkwardly filled with random pixeled images. The final draft of the magazine we created showed our inexperience – just students in their 20s giving their best with little clue.
I don’t know how I’d feel if I saw that magazine now. Perhaps I’d feel strange, realizing how different I was as a person and how rudimentary my journalistic writing was back then. I’d also thoughtfully consider the standards we ignored back then and the very possible lack of observation and depth in our stories.
But we did not do everything wrong.
We saw things, talked to sources, and went places. And this is what I’ve come to understand through the years: journalism is, in essence, the process of not necessarily knowing much at first and discovering things after deep exploration. It’s about looking at things and leaving ourselves behind in order to deliver people the most impersonal and honest version of what we see.
Argentinian journalist Leila Guerriero has emphasized this topic dozens of times in her essays and lectures on narrative journalism. In her own words, “narrative journalism is seeing in what everyone sees something that not everyone sees.”
Renowned globally, The Washington Post continues to set the precedent for the journalism industry in many ways. “The truth, no matter how bad, is never as dangerous as a lie in the long run,” one of the outlet’s walls reads. Just below that phrase is the list of the more than 70 Pulitzer prizes the publication has accumulated over decades. The Post will soon turn 147 years old and is in constant reinvention, just like The New York Times and other publications that first appeared more than a century ago.
ProPublica is an investigative outlet based in New York City founded on the belief that reporting is an “optimistic profession.” Operating since 2007, its team knows that uncovering wrongdoings and holding powerful people accountable can make a difference in the world we live in. Their 55,000 donors, mostly ordinary citizens, reward their efforts. According to their managing editor Charlie Ornstein, this shows that it’s possible to operate at the highest journalistic level and get support. Unlike many other prominent media, ProPublica’s business model does not have a paywall.
During our tour across diverse news outlets in the United States with the World Press Institute, we’ve had many deep discussions about the concept of journalism and the way we do our job. The word “objectivity” has been used many times to underline that this profession is based on principles of independence. “Credibility” is another recurring word in these dialogues. “Accountability,” “trust,” “transparency”… and so on. Some editors even create new terms for the same standards. “No surprises journalism”, for example, is the first rule at The Wall Street Journal newsroom.
We could not be considered journalists if we did not have all these values. It’s so obvious and yet some people forget about it.
