What habits must the journalist have and what must avoid?

 

A journalist must cultivate several key habits to excel in their profession and uphold ethical standards. Conversely, there are certain habits they must actively avoid to maintain their integrity and credibility.

Habits a Journalist Must Have:

• Curiosity: A genuine desire to learn about the world and ask probing questions is fundamental to uncovering stories. This includes imagining potential angles and outcomes. For example, a curious journalist covering a car crash won't just report the facts but will ask "why" and "how" to understand the root causes and broader implications.
• Skepticism: A healthy dose of doubt and a commitment to verifying information from multiple sources are crucial to ensuring accuracy and avoiding the spread of misinformation. This means not taking information at face value and always seeking evidence.
• Persistence/Tenacity: Journalism often involves overcoming obstacles, such as uncooperative sources or difficult-to-find information. A tenacious journalist will keep digging and exploring different avenues to get the story.⁵
• Empathy: Understanding and considering the perspectives and feelings of the people they are reporting on is vital for fair and sensitive storytelling. This is especially important when dealing with vulnerable individuals or sensitive topics.
• Creativity: Finding unique angles, telling stories in engaging ways, and adapting to different media formats requires creativity. This could involve using data visualization, multimedia elements, or crafting compelling narratives.
• Discipline: Meeting deadlines, adhering to ethical guidelines, and maintaining organized research require strong self-discipline. This also involves fact-checking and meticulous attention to detail.
• Passion: A genuine passion for truth-telling, informing the public, and holding power accountable fuels a journalist's dedication and resilience.
• Strong Communication Skills: This includes excellent writing, clear and concise speaking, and active listening to understand different perspectives and gather accurate information.
• Research and Investigative Skills: Knowing how to conduct thorough research using credible sources, including interviews, data analysis, and public records, and the ability to uncover hidden information are essential.
• News Sensibility: Developing a keen understanding of what constitutes news, what is relevant to the public, and the potential impact of different stories is crucial for making sound editorial judgments.
• Adaptability: The media landscape is constantly evolving, so journalists must be willing to learn new technologies, platforms, and storytelling techniques.
• Networking: Building and maintaining relationships with sources, colleagues, and mentors can provide valuable insights, leads, and support.
• Upholding Ethical Standards: Familiarizing themselves with and adhering to ethical guidelines and codes of conduct is paramount for maintaining trust and credibility. This includes objectivity, fairness, and accuracy.
• Continuous Learning: The world and the field of journalism are constantly changing, so a commitment to lifelong learning through reading, attending workshops, and staying informed is vital.

Habits a Journalist Must Avoid:

• Bias: Allowing personal opinions, beliefs, or affiliations to influence reporting undermines objectivity and fairness.¹⁴ Journalists must strive to present information impartially.
• Sensationalism: Exaggerating or distorting facts to create a more dramatic story can mislead the public and erode trust. Accuracy and context should always take precedence over sensationalism.
• Plagiarism: Presenting someone else's work as their own is a serious ethical violation and damages a journalist's reputation and the credibility of their publication.¹⁶ Proper attribution is always necessary.
• Conflicts of Interest: Failing to disclose or avoid situations where personal interests could compromise their journalistic integrity is unethical.¹⁷ This includes accepting gifts or favors that could influence reporting.
• Making Assumptions: Relying on assumptions instead of verifying facts can lead to inaccuracies and misrepresentations. Thorough research and fact-checking are essential.
• Lack of Transparency: Concealing sources (unless there's a legitimate reason for confidentiality), methods of information gathering, or potential biases can erode public trust.
• Disregarding Harm: Failing to consider the potential impact of their reporting on individuals and communities, especially vulnerable populations, is unethical. The pursuit of news should not come at the expense of causing undue harm.
• Spreading Misinformation/Disinformation: Failing to verify information and contributing to the spread of false or misleading content is a grave breach of journalistic ethics.
• Teacher-Centric Coverage (in education journalism): Overly focusing on teachers' perspectives at the expense of other stakeholders like students, parents, and administrators can provide an incomplete picture.
• Emotion-Centered Coverage: While emotions are part of the human experience, relying solely on emotional appeals without factual backing can be misleading.
• Speculating About the Future: Reporting on potential future events as facts or with a strong bias towards worst-case scenarios can be alarmist and inaccurate.
• Bad News Bias: Overemphasizing negative news and neglecting stories of progress or solutions can create a distorted view of reality.
• Over-Generalizing Dramatic Anecdotes: Presenting isolated incidents as widespread trends without sufficient evidence can lead to misinterpretations.
• Unhealthy Lifestyle Habits: While not directly related to ethics, habits like poor diet, lack of exercise, and ignoring health concerns can lead to burnout and affect a journalist's ability to perform their duties effectively.
• Annoying Reporting Habits: This includes practices that waste a journalist's time or are unprofessional, such as hanging up the phone abruptly on sources, pitching irrelevant stories across multiple platforms, or sending full press releases when a concise pitch would suffice.

By cultivating the right habits and consciously avoiding detrimental ones, journalists can uphold their professional standards, serve the public interest effectively, and maintain the trust that is essential to their role in a democratic society.

Sources:

1. 7 Habits of successful journalist - starting with curiosity (paulbradshaw,medium,com)

2. What Do News Disseminators and Audiences in the Digital Age Need Most? — Skills? Knowledge? Or Accuracy-Motivated Sceptical Knowing www.tandfonline.com

3. Journalist writing- UAGC writing - University of Arizona (writingcenter,uagc.edu) 

4. What to do when sources dismiss the press - FOREIGN PRESS (foreignpress.org)

5. 10 Ways to Tell If a Career in Journalism is Right for You (ici,net,au)

Source: www.grammarcheck.net Hady F