"The Values and Craft of American Journalism"

Roy Peter Clark

Byline: Roy Peter Clark

Author Roy Peter Clark was online discuss his new book, "The Values and Craft of American Journalism." Its essays touch on the latest journalistic practices, as well as the future and direction of the craft.

Roy Peter Clark is a senior scholar at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg, Florida, and a founding director of the National Writers' Workshop. He is the author of two books, "Free to Write" and "Coaching Writers."

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Roy Peter Clark: Hello, everybody. I'm ready to chat and answer your questions about journalism. Let me have it.

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Laurel: Probably my favorite recent book about journalism is William McGowan's "Coloring the News." Put simply, his thesis is that journalism in general is driven by a diversity agenda, that holds that certain groups likes blacks and gays need better P.R., so stories that make them out as victims of society need large coverage (Rodney King, James Byrd, Matthew Sheppard) while minimizing the extent to which these groups are identified in stories that might put them in bad light.

Do you think that, as McGowan puts it, that the American public has been turned off by "news that seems to come from a parallel universe" in which women don't commit domestic violence, people with AIDS are never sexually promiscuous gays, the homeless are never drunken ex-mental patients, and blacks don't commit a highly excessive proportion of violent crime?

Roy Peter Clark: An important question, to be sure. From my vantage point, the best expression of diversity is inclusion rather than exclusion. So it should not be about filtering the truth, but about telling the truth. Many people read the paper or watch the news and don't see themselves -- the way they lives their lives. That's as true for evangelical Christians as it is for ethnic minorities. The problem for African-Americans is that their normal lives have traditionally not be presented with integrity -- only the dysfunctional parts of their culture. White folks get to see themselves more often in the rich diversity of their lives and cultures.

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Arlington, VA: It seems as if most "news" these days is the result of either a press release or a press conference. If an alternate view is given it usually is based on another press release, press conference, or a statement from press secretary.

Has the media primarily become a mechanism for summarizing prepared statements? What percentage of the "news" generated in the America is such summarization of prepared statements? And, in your eyes, is this idea of current media journalistic process a fair association?

Roy Peter Clark: Thanks, Arlington. Journalism, in my definition, is a process of verification. These days, especially on cable news networks, it seems more like a discipline of assertion. Talking heads spout opinions without facts to back them up.

That's the problem created by a journalism based on press releases. Such releases express a vested interest, not an objective understanding of an issue. Most of the newspapers I read are good ones, so they rarely work that way. But there is a problem: news staffs have become smaller and smaller in the quest for maintaining profitability. This is not a good development, because it means their are fewer bodies to go out into the world and find out stuff that matters.

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Indianapolis, IN: Will we ever see a return to journalism that's not driven by speed solely but by thoughtful analysis? I'm referring not just to broadcast, but even print. The desire to be first and fast over accurate and complete.

Roy Peter Clark: Good question, Indy. The problem you are seeing is made more difficult by the creation of cable news and the internet. Look what we're doing now. This technology creates spontaneity and interaction, but not necessarily the time for reflection.

The news cycle is now 24 hours a day. Breaking news appears on television or on the website. Newspapers have lost their ability to scoop their competitors. Which is why newspapers should become more reflective, focusing not on the breaking details, but the meaning of issues and events, the context, the history. And, of course, create a place where the best news writing can live.

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Burke, VA: I dislike the way using an un-named source has gone from getting some information you could only get off the record to a convenient way to smear a political opponent or say something you wanted to see said. For example from the New York Times:

"A senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House now says its official position is not to comment on the case while it is under investigation by a federal special prosecutor, said Mr. Rove had gone about his business as usual on Monday."

Roy Peter Clark: I feel your pain. This is not the Watergate era, and Deep Throat is not a secret anymore. The problem is mostly a Washington problem. Outside the Beltway, journalists are much less likely to use anonymous sources. But there's no way to write about national politics without depending upon such sources. Some of that has to do with journalistic culture and traditions. But more of it has to do with a culture of government secrecy, and a reluctance of sources to go on the record, even when the issues raised do not involve government secrets. Why shouldn't people in government feel free to talk candidly with reporters without fear for their jobs and livelihoods.

I guess I'm saying it's a two-way street. But we do need reforms.

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Atlanta, Georgia: Why, for the first time in my life of 55 years, is the press afraid to publish unpopular positions? Why does it react as it is intimidated?

Roy Peter Clark: Dear Atlanta: I think the press is under pressure, perhaps as never before. We all realize that the American political culture is highly polarized, and that people are seeking out news and information that adheres to their personal views of the world. The attacks against the perceived liberal bias of the press have also had an effect. News companies are losing readers and viewers, so they may shoot for a journalism that does not offend.

I think that's the wrong direction to take. I'm not arguing that news should be biased, but that journalists should do their jobs with less fear of the consequences.

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Fairfax: Why is Foxnews so popular?

Why did CNN fall from grace?

Roy Peter Clark: Hello, Fairfax:

The popular of Fox News grew, no doubt, from the perception by conservatives that their world view was not being represented by the mainstream press. But I think something else is going on. I, for one, don't think that Fox news slants stories very much to the right. But they seem to report the news with a greater sense of urgency and concern. And they have dominant front men who express their conservative biases directly.

I predict a CNN resurgence as the political pendulum begins to swing -- very slowly -- from right to left.

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New York: Where do you think journalism is going in light of Dan Rather-gate, Jason Blair etc.???

What is happening that journalist feel they have invent things??? Why are we turning back to yellow journalism???

Roy Peter Clark: Although the Dan Rather and Jayson Blair events are both considered scandals, they are very different and shouldn't be lumped together. Rathergate is about questionable sources and documents. Blairgate is about making stuff up. The first was probably an error of enthusiasm. The second was malpractice of the worst sort.

We probably have fewer cases of fabrication now than existed fifty or a hundred years ago. But we have the ability to detect them now. And they get published prominently on such websites as: www.poynter.org. The Poynter Institute is the school for journalists in St. Petersburg, Florida, where I work.

We take journalism scandals very seriously and always try to use them to seek reform of journalism standards and practices.

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Rockville: Why are so many journalist liberals? Why don't they realize that there is another point of view? What does balanced reporting mean really mean? Do you think it is really practiced?

Roy Peter Clark: I'm not sure why so many journalists are liberal. And I've often wondered why so many medical doctors are conservative. And why so theater people are gay. I think certain kinds of personalities gravitate toward certain professions.

The standards of objectivity were created to compensate for people's inherent biases. No person is a blank slate. Each of us brings our autobiography to the reporting and receiving of the news. That's why -- in responsible journalism -- a system of checks and balances helps detect intentional or, more often, unintended bias.

And more conservatives and more evangelicals should look to journalism as a vocation. The problem is that the conservatives have so thoroughly bashed the mainstream media -- so why would a conservative want to join a club where -- it appears -- he or she is not wanted?

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Woodbridge, VA: I frequently see printed or Web-published articles that report and analyze the publication of legislation, policies, announcements, and other publications from government and industry groups.

The articles almost never provide a hyperlink that would allow me to pull up the source document and read it for myself. I have concluded that this is an active, conscious omission. Why do the journalists/editors prevent me from seeing it for myself? Are they afraid that if I had access to the original material, I would be less dependent on journalists as the middlemen?

Thanks.

Roy Peter Clark: All I can say is that many newspaper journalists are using website to make original documents available to readers. I think this is an important development, and we should be seeing more of it. Many websites are seriously understaffed. The effect you may be seeing may not be negligence or a desire to conceal, but the inefficiencies of the overworked and underpaid.

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Fort Worth, Texas: What is your take on the spike in credibility that newspapers enjoyed in the post-Watergate years? Would you consider that time a standard of credibility that journalism can reach again, or just a spike in journalism's timeline?

Roy Peter Clark: The credibility of journalists is in decline -- even as many news organizations are more responsible than they ever have been. My take is that journalism is not immune to what is going on in the rest of society. There are few institutions that have not taken a decline in credibility in the last quarter century: the federal government, the medical profession, lawyers, public schools, labor unions, the clergy, even accountants, for goodness sake. The Military is the only institution I can think of that has risen in public esteem since the Watergate era.

In a post-modern world, the traditional owners of authority and knowledge come under suspicion. Why should journalism fall victim to that -- and reform itself accordingly.

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Silver Spring, MD: How should reporters cover virus-like entities like the "Institute for Intelligent Design" that masquerade as objective sources for a given position when they are really all about tearing down some well established and accepted body of knowledge like the theory of evolution.

Giving such a group any degree of credence (the Swift Boaters could be another example), even in a negative way only makes them appear to be legitimate and actually promotes their real agenda. Should they not be covered at all?

Roy Peter Clark: I think that creationists should be covered. They represent a significant cultural force in America. I was thinking of this question recently as Tom Cruise expressed his antagonism to psychotherapy. Many folks know that this comes from his beliefs as a Scientologist. But who knows what Scientology is? Where it came from? What it stands for? I think these things need to be explained in a neutral manner. I also think that's one of the things that journalists are for.

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Washington, D.C.: There's been much hand-wringing about the effect of blogging on journalism. But it's my observation that the more successful the bloggers become, the more like traditional columnists and journalists they become. That doesn't go for all of them, but the major blogs -- the ones read by thousands per day -- seem to be "professionalizing" themselves. Care to comment?

Roy Peter Clark: I heard a statistic that most new bloggers are teenaged girls writing for their friends. That makes sense to me. And it's a good thing. I agree with your assessment that the most powerful bloggers have begun to adopt a set of practices and standards that begin looking more and more like journalism.

The problem I have with bloggers is that most of them do not go out and find things out -- and don't take enough responsibility for checking what they write. I do realize that this technology has a self-correcting mechanism, especially in the case of gross irresponsibility.

But I think the web log can be an exciting new form of citizen journalism, and that traditional journalism can learn a lot from their emerging popularity.

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Steubenville, OH: It seems the talking heads are busier giving their deductions and opinions rather than hard facts. I thought reporters REPORTED news events.

I think Rathergate was pushed along because somebody does not like CBS, but Rather was really tarred and feathered over a topic

that had been widely eluded to over years.

Those documents may or may not have been fake, but it was reported early on that GWB

had not been around during part of his military service.

The talking heads need to get over themselves and not shove their opinions at us, there are many in the viewing public, who merely take the words of these people as gospel and do not bother or have time to

look deeper into the statements. We need true, concise, to-the-point reporting, no speculation or analogies.

Roy Peter Clark: Dear Steubenville (birthplace of Dean Martin):

I think you are on to something. I think the problem with Rathergate is that intense competition for ratings led them to the conclusion that they had a blockbuster story -- but they didn't. They used a bad document to prove what many people knew to be true.

It takes money to send reporters out. Talking heads are cheap.

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Why journalists are liberal: They spend most of their time talking to people with complaints about society.

People who go to work, come home to raise their families and are pleased about the opportunities America's given them don't make very interesting news.

Roy Peter Clark: The way I would say it is that journalists are addicted to conflict as a story frame. They are more likely to land on problems, rather than help seek solutions. It doesn't have to be that way.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Did Time betray the First Amendment by turning over Cooper's notes?

Roy Peter Clark: This is a tough question, because we don't know enough yet to judge everyone's motives. I respect Time's decision to follow the law. And I respect the New York Times' reporter deciding to practice a form of civil disobedience -- especially since the Times never published an article about the CIA agent.

I just think its despicable that prosecutors and judges are putting journalists in jail -- while the leakers sip their Starbucks.

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Belle View, Virginia: Dear Mr. Clark,

I was reading this discussion with interest until the following occurred:

Roy Peter Clark:

"I, for one, don't think that Fox news slants stories very much to the right."

It must be nice to inhabit a universe unencumbered by reality. Do you also believe in the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy?

Your credibility now stands at zero, minus x. Hope the gang at Fox pays you well.

Thanks for ignoring me!;

Tired of the flack hacks posing as journalists.

Roy Peter Clark: Thanks for the opportunity to explain this more fully. I'm not saying that FOX News does not express a significant right wing point of view AS A WHOLE. I just think when we feel that way it's not primarily because of their news reporting -- but because of the enormous profile of Sean Hannity and the other guy, whose name I forget -- yeah, Bill O'Reilly.

Many stories -- Florida hurricanes for example -- get told straight. And even some political stories are a little straighter than most critics think. I hope that distinction helps.

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Bowie: Oh, one big complaint from the conservative press-critique:

A study of NJ Turnpike traffic stops found that they weren't racially biased.

Why did this story disappear as soon as there wasn't a bad-cop angle to report?

Roy Peter Clark: Some news takes a long time to develop. Sometimes the news zigs and the truth zags. Sometimes there is complexity where readers and journalists are looking for stark simplicity. Anytime I see a trend story in the news, I always anticipate that an antidote for the story will be coming along down the line. Journalists are most responsible when they are willing to second-guess their own truths.

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Independence, MO: Mr. Clark:

It seems to me that for a while now - TV journalism has taken a fork in the road that has moved it away from the traditional "facts" or heard core news reporting that we all used to associate with good reporting and professionalism in journalism. It is like they are marketing news stories to specific audiences.

While there have been some problems or issues within the print media it seems me that by-and-large the quality of journalism within the print industry has perhaps given newspapers a new life apart from "quick-news" of electronic reporting. Of course I suppose the internet has in fact given many newspapers a way to counter that. But my question is - do you feel the standard of print journalism is better today or no different that that seen on TV reporting?

Roy Peter Clark: Tough question, Indy.

I do think newspaper reporting is better know -- and that the standards are more exacting than ever. And I guess I think that the quality of local news coverage has declined. This is a sad development, for their are many television reporters who want to do their jobs well in the public interest. An insatiable appetite for ratings and profits -- imposed on them by ownership -- makes it harder and harder. Even Oprah is not immune to it. You know when ratings period is on us when Oprah features middle school lesbians.

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Chicago, IL: I have a simple question for you since the right-wingers seems to be about in full force today - Does the media have a liberal bias? I know most journalists are liberal, like most corporate heads are Conservative - but does that mean they have a bias? And where is this bias reflected?

Roy Peter Clark: Let me take the newspaper as an example. I believe that there are at least three sources of bias. 1) the political position of the editorial page. 2) the feelings and opinions of the reporter. 3)the news judgment and story selection of the editor. The best stories are those in which I can't tell the editorial opinion or the personal beliefs of reporter. That takes discipline. But those who think there is a bias will see it when they want to see it.

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Munich, Germany: In the book, "The Values and Craft of American Journalism", the essay entitled, "Community connectedness : passwords for public journalism", caught my attention.

Whereas I can imagine a connection to the coverage of the Michael Jackson trial, for instance, how would or how should Community connectedness relate to a topic such as the Judith Miller/Valerie Plame dilemma?

Roy Peter Clark: That essay was written at the beginning of a movement known as public journalism or civic journalism. It introduced interesting reforms into journalism which still stand. And it attracted an army of detractors.

I guess the question that Jay Rosen might ask is: what is the civic responsibility of the journalist in this case. How can be make this important issue interesting. And how can we create a meaningful conversation in the community about what's at stake?

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VA: Do you see the works of the Freedom Forum/Newsmuseum critical?

Roy Peter Clark: I hope that the Newseum will help create a strong bond between citizens and journalists. I hope that citizens will come to understand that they share the First Amendment with members of the press.

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Ojai CA from DC: After the London bombing photos and video taken from

peoples cell phones were seen on the front page of the

Post and NY Times.

Do you see photojournalism in the future being based on

who was there at the moment and less dependant of staff

and freelance photographers

Roy Peter Clark: I guess this another example of "citizen journalism." Technology turns eyewitnesses into reporters. Look how that worked in the tsunami disaster. The most dramatic images came from people suffering through the disaster.

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Herndon, Va.: Every old-time (i.e. over 50) journalist I know says that journalism schools are a waste of time -- that good journalists have a liberal arts degree and experience working in the business. Thoughts?

Roy Peter Clark: There are many good paths to becoming a journalist. I have a Ph.D. in medieval literature. I know people who got their journalism training in the army. Any education in journalism should improve your news judgment, help you gather evidence, help you think more critically, and help you tell good stories.

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Roy Peter Clark: I'm sorry that the time for this chat has expired and that I haven't been able to get to more of your excellent questions. We all have a stake in the quality of journalism, so keep your critical skills sharp. Cheers. -- Roy Peter Clark

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