Tag: Jeff Jarvis

All Journalism Is Advocacy — Whither news?

Greenwald and the Guardian exhibited the highest value of journalism: intellectual honesty. That does not mean they were unbiased. It means they were willing to do damage to their political side in the name of truth.

Journalism as service:

But instead, we got mostly articles. For that’s what journalists do, isn’t it? We write articles. We are storytellers! But not everything should be a story. Stories aren’t always the best vehicle for conveying information, for informing the public. Sometimes lists, data bases, photos, maps, wikis, and other new tools can do a better job.

It’s been said before and it still rings true. Related.

The distraction trope. Every new technology brings distraction, but only for a time. The distraction will pass and wonderful possibilities await if we believe that the person next to us is not merely distracted by the latest shiny toy.

By claiming no opinion NPR inherently has an opinion

Jeff Jarvis nails the problem with NPR limiting attendance at the Stewart and Colbert rallies to staff assigned to cover the event.

In its effort to be hyperjournalistic NPR is being unjournalistic. Journalists, properly empowered, are curious. They want to know things. NPR is telling them not to ask questions.

It’s ironic that a journalistic institution, seeking to uphold ideals of public service, would issue such a totalitarian order. Journalists are people. People have opinions. An internal memo is not going to change that. Nor will it make us forget that the next time an NPR show comes on the air.