Frogblog • Volatile Essence: Sometimes, journalists shouldn't tweet.

Volatile Essence: Sometimes, journalists shouldn't tweet.

ronbailey:

rosieloveswords:

TerryMoran Terry Moran

#Gadhafi is dead, Libyan state television says. He wrecked his country, murdered thousands, stole billions. A monster. Don’t RIP.

Gaddafi is a son-of-a-bitch. I, in my position as a non-journalist, can say this.
Moran, as an anchor, is not in the…

I think it’s just the opposite. People think journalists are a joke precisely because they feign a phony objectiveness. We all know journalists have a slant, because human beings have a slant. Every single one of us. If a journalist wants my respect, he or she just needs to be honest and up-front about what their slant is.

Really? You’d rather have anchors saying things like that?

And I wouldn’t say “slant” — that’s a pretty loaded word.

I would say we have opinions.

Our job, as reporters, is to report what we see. What we witness. What we can corroborate. The facts, ma’am, just the facts.

I think what Moran did was completely unprofessional and unbecoming of a journalist.

None of us are a blank slate, obviously, but we’re supposed to be fair. I think this move toward hyper-partisan, editorialized, opinionated journalism is a bad move all around.

It’s not about being dishonest. Or showing two-sides of the story. It’s telling the truth the way we see it.

Saying someone was a monster and should not RIP is fucking petty. And unjournalistic. And unprofessional. It’s something I’d expect a pundit or a politician to say.

Not a journalist.

Oh, I agree that what Moran said was crude, and actually pretty hateful. And it certainly doesn’t reflect well on him as an individual. But yeah, I have no problem with an anchor or journalist expressing an opinion.

I’d almost go so far as to say I prefer to know how he feels - at least now, as a reader, I know what filter to use when he tells me something going forward. The more I know about where the guy is coming from, the more effective I can be in parsing the truth.

(via volatileessence)

Source: volatileessence