Sometimes a stranger will ask a question, an innocent query, that leads right to the heart of things.
This happened a few days ago, when two other editors and I were sitting in the lobby of the Mormon Church’s headquarters in Salt Lake City.
In town for a meeting of the Organization of News Ombudsmen, we had skipped out at lunch and headed to the nearby Mormon tower’s observation deck 26 floors above the valley. As we waited for a tour guide, a Scottish woman joined us on the sofas.
We introduced ourselves as ombudsmen from The Guardian in London; The Observer, also in London, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“What is your newspaper most proud of?” the woman asked.
The British chaps went first, telling her of the work their papers had done that had led to the ouster of a corrupt Conservative government in England.
Then it was my turn.
Over many years, I told her, The Inquirer has vigorously reported on the abuse of power and dereliction of duty by Philadelphia police.
Police dogs had been allowed to bite citizens. Police routinely had classified rapes as much lesser crimes. People arrested for petty crimes had been thrown into the back of police wagons, taken on high-speed rides and seriously injured.
The stories, I told her, had led city officials to make reforms, protecting the rights of citizens.
The question she did not ask, but the one that lies behind the one she did, is: Why do journalists do what they do?
That question had surfaced earlier in the day at the ombudsmen’s conference. Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists and an editor and reporter for 40 years, encouraged ombudsmen to explain why journalism works as it does.
As Sept. 11 recedes, he said, the government and much of the public “is anxious to curb our appetite for independent information.” The question seems to be: Are you an American first, or are you a journalist?
“In a democratic society, the journalist is, in fact, exercising the highest form of citizenship by monitoring events in the community and making the public aware of them,” he said.
Though the speed and delivery of information has changed in recent years, the role of journalism has not. “The primary purpose of journalism remains to provide citizens with a credible and accurate account of events in society so that they can be free and self-governing. So they can make informed decisions,” he said.
What are the stakes?
“Without a steady, reliable flow of independent information, public opinion would not be possible. Self-government would disappear. Journalism and self-government rise or fall together,” Kovach said.
In the last 19 months, the nation has witnessed, and this newspaper has covered, these world-tilting events:
The dispute over the presidential vote count in Florida; the terror attacks on America and their aftermath; the anthrax scare; the war in Afghanistan; the fighting in the Middle East, and the sex abuse of minors by priests of the Roman Catholic Church.
What is the guiding principle of this newspaper’s coverage?
On each topic, we seek to accurately, clearly and fairly report as much information as we can, and put it in context. We want readers to be informed, so they can make decisions about what they think is the right course.
This is the principle behind thousands of decisions we make every day.
Does this newspaper listen to criticism of its coverage?
Absolutely. We will listen and respond to specific complaints. We will fix mistakes. We hope that readers recognize that rigorous questioning is part of our own process.
What is the most important question a reader can ask?
“How do [reporters] know that?” said Kovach, referring to information contained in articles. “If it’s not in the story, then it’s not the kind of journalism on which they want to be making the decisions a citizen must make.”
