HE SAID. SHE SAID. I GIVE UP!
“He said, she said” journalism.*
It’s slap-dash, lazy and mires the Australian electorate in gossip, slander and an impenetrable swamp of mis-information.
Julia says. Tony says. Julie says. Joe says. Bronwyn says. Barnaby says. Bob says. Bob (the other one in the hat) reckons…
Who hasn’t switched on the radio, turned on the television or opened a news website lately to find just another round of the usual slanging match touted as headline news?
“Today, (insert name of politician, here) said, (insert name of other politician, here) was a (insert disparaging comment, here).”
Now, does that sound like journalism to you? If you suspect it isn’t, you’re right.
It is the antithesis of everything I learned as a young reporter, way back then. I was told that the job of a journalist was to test daily assertions for their veracity. For a modicum of truth – as far as one was able to ascertain.
In the past this may have taken hours, days or weeks. It was important that any utterance was tested by a journalist and, if printed, worth the paper it was written on.
Instead, the scenario in the modern 24 hour newsroom is: crazy deadline; few staff, many juniors; press release; phone quote, email, twitter; quick edit; bish-bosh-bash, news bulletin assembled; web site amended; out it goes.
Forget it. It’s done. Let’s wait for someone else to do the heavy lifting.
This type of “journalism” isn’t journalism at all. It says to the audience: We bring you two people who disagree with each other. We either cannot or will not attempt to find out who’s right or put this argument in a wider context to give it some meaning.
What a pity more modern newsrooms don’t avail themselves of that indispensible piece of technology – the WASTE PAPER BIN.
It seems that the time interval between the press release and the news bulletin is ever-diminishing.
We deserve more.
For my money, any inquiry into the media in this country should be about the staffing of newsrooms: the training, supervision and rosters of staff; the provision of adequate time to gather, consider and interpret news; the recruitment and remuneration for excellent practitioners of the noble profession of journalist.
(That you just snorted at my mention of “journalist” and “noble” in the same sentence proves my point.)
I go waaaay back. To the 70s. There’s barely a day goes by when I am not having this same conversation about slipping standards with some highly respected news hound or other. You’d be surprised to hear the names, but with the concentration of media ownership, they dare not risk their livelihoods and speak up.
Like a true old-fashioned hack, I’ll never reveal my sources.
But let me just say, there is a deep, deep disquiet among the ranks of senior journalists about what’s happening to the old-fashioned art of news-gathering. An art, a science, a profession, a calling, a trade – call it what you will, but it took a keen eye a bright mind and a fearless nature. The best journalists are, of course, a vital part of our democracy.
There is no shortage of young people eager to root round for hypocrisy like pigs after truffles, just as we all did back then. But will they ever have the chance to earn a good living from their snufflings? Become respected professionals? Or will they be resigned to rescuing a press release from the waste paper bin and turning a sow’s ear into a silk purse.
We have to do better. Here’s hoping that the new player on the Australian scene, The Global Mail can put a bit of meat on the bare bones of modern reporting.
Journalists were a necessity then. They still are. Now. more than ever.
The Hoopla, it should be said, is an opinion site. We offer an AAP live feed for latest news.
* According to US press critic, Jay Rosen, “He said, she said” journalism means…
- There’s a public dispute.
- The dispute makes news.
- No real attempt is made to assess clashing truth claims in the story, even though they are in some sense the reason for the story. (Under the “conflict makes news” test.)
- The means for assessment do exist, so it’s possible to exert a factual check on some of the claims, but for whatever reason the report declines to make use of them.
- The symmetry of two sides making opposite claims puts the reporter in the middle between polarized extremes.
ADDITIONAL READING Jay Rosen
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