Every generation of journalists tries to reinvent the news business. And, those efforts influence the way news is gathered and presented in newspapers, to TV and radio audiences and now over the Internet.
Sometimes this is good and sometimes it is harmful.
In the last decade, some newspapers have blurred the line between news coverage of an event or a trend and news analysis of an on-going controversy or news story.
This confuses many readers who expect to find the news stories in the national/world, state, business or sports sections and the opinions in the editorial section of the newspaper.
Many newspapers used to avoid this sort of confusion by clearly labeling stories that weave together facts and then stitch in educated guesses about the future as analysis.
Readers liked this, because it gave them a clear signal about where the story was headed.
Editors liked it, because it set stories that simply strung together the facts apart from those that included a dose of educated guess or prediction of trends.
The problem with dropping labels like “analysis” from some stories in the news pages of a newspaper is simply this: Readers begin to confuse the two and perceive that newspapers “taint” all their stories with opinion. About a dozen callers and e-mailers complain about this every week.
And that response becomes a hefty problem for newspapers when it begins to reflect on credibility.
To be fair, some reporters are pretty good guessers. Based upon years of covering both a beat and the human natures inherent in newsmakers, these reporters often are able to make a correct call about how some public policy issue will conclude.
But that process of guessing in public should be labeled clearly.
During the last five years or so, those labels have been scarce in The Salt Lake Tribune even though the newspaper has printed hundreds of analysis articles.
That policy should be re-examined and amended to reflect concern for readers who like their news straight and their analyses labeled.
Generations: A number of what Tom Brokaw has called “The Greatest Generation” called to express consternation with a lack of note in Friday’s Tribune that it was the 59th anniversary of D-Day, when the Allies invaded Axis-occupied Europe on the beaches of Normandy and kicked off the beginning of the end for the Nazis.
Frankly, I am old enough to remember when public schools throughout the country stopped the school day each year at the exact moment on Dec. 7 when the Japanese thumped U.S. forces in Pearl Harbor and drew America into the Second World War.
And, I remember that many of my teachers stood silent, hands over their hearts, while “Taps” played over the public address system.
Tears were common as the adults remembered brothers, uncles, fathers and friends who died at Pearl Harbor and subsequently in World War II battles.
Then, as the 60s roared through American life, that kind of remembrance was labeled “corny.”
Maybe it’s time to dust that kind of reminder off. Remembering the good and the bad times of American history is part of marking who we are.
As the current generation will remember 9/11 and all that the attack wrought across the world, the World War II generation remembers that war. Those folks are dying off. They should go with a feeling that Americans will remember what they did.
Score card:
Number of readers who do not want to read one more word about the Smart family: 59
Number of readers who believe The Tribune is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 37
Number of readers who want to know why there is “fluffy” news on the front page: 16
Number of readers who want to know if reporters ever get out of the office: 9
Number of readers who complain about The Tribune sniping at the (Deseret) Morning News: 13
