The preface to WRITING AND REPORTING NEWS assured me I had chosen the right book for this report. The author, Carole Rich, leads off with "...but the basic principles of good writing, accurate reporting, and ethical behavior are timeless." Two of which are the whole point in this exercise, accurate reporting and ethical behavior of journalists.
Good writing is the most subjective of the aspects cited. So much of which depends upon the readers' perspectives and the nature of the reported story itself. The other two however, differ.
Accurate reporting deals with facts, not supposition or opinions. This would make accurate reporting primarily an exercise in objectivity. However, people germane to the story will have opinions or suppositions that are relevant or bear upon the tangible nature of the story as well. And surely, accurate reporting would demand their inclusion so labelled. But more on that is sure to follow.
Ethical behavior lies somewhere in between the subjective nature of good writing and the accurate reporting of facts related to a story. Ethics are objective in that they always exist in some form or fashion, you just may not agree with them. But they are there nevertheless. And just "what" those ethics are that journalists are schooled to follow, we will discover as we move through this book.
The book is organized into five parts that are supposed to reflect the journalistic process. They are...
An interesting breakdown of content. The most pages are focused on how to construct stories followed closely by how to apply the techniques of being a reporter across the various types of events one might cover. Substantially less treatment is given, in descending order, to ethics, collecting information, and understanding news.
Perhaps we've discovered the nexus of the problem already? But fair is fair, let's give the book a chance to show us what journalists are all about. Either way, the answer to the following question is what we seek. Are these modern day apparitions of journalists that way because they are corrupted by their industry and the times we live in or, are they merely poorly-trained unwitting participants in the charade we call today's body politic?
