Like the Loch Ness monster and mermaids, there are myths in this business of journalism. The biggest one: that reporters, editors and photographers can be objective.
Don’t get me wrong. Objective coverage of any person, place or thing is a great ideal, but reaching it is impossible. At any age, the way people think and behave is a result not only of present stimulus, but also of all the similar experiences they ever had.
Think of it this way: When reporters, photographers and editors start out in their professions, they have tidy little overnight bags of experiences and reactions they may have packed from college, high school, their family life and not being picked for the playground kickball team.
This small olio of ups and downs does not hamper them in their daily work life, but each day they work they pack more into the bag until it no longer closes.
So they get a carry-on bag and transfer the stuff from smaller to larger luggage.
Then they haul that around every day until the underwear is hanging out from a zipper that will not close.
Then comes the set of luggage the kind with the nifty attach case that can be strapped to the Pullman case with wheels.
Finally, when that becomes overstuffed, they get a steamer trunk, strap some wheels on it and try to work while pulling and tugging the collection of life experiences.
You get the idea.
And pulling around that kind of baggage can turn a rational journalist into a raving nutcake.
But what you may not understand is how all those life experiences can change a journalist, unless he or she takes time to cull the stowed stuff periodically.
Suddenly, what started as a bag packed with a change of underwear and a clean shirt has become a wardrobe large enough to support the owner for weeks in the field. It might sound handy, but it’s unwieldy.
Simply, all those experiences, unsorted and just jammed into a journalist’s brain, can color a news person’s perception of what is happening or what is most important about a story.
What happens if the inventory is never taken? Coverage becomes more predictable.
So, how does a journalist deal with this accumulation? By periodically sorting the stuff, admitting his or her biases and getting on with the process of news-gathering.
But, with a periodic inventory, the journalist is free to be fair in treating any subject. And fairness is a goal that can be reached.
Being fair means reaching out with extraordinary effort to get all sides of a story, watching the language and tone of a report so as not to distort positions, keeping a perspective, being accurate and being aware of personal biases that might dictate coverage, play and follow-up.
A startling example of how personal experiences change a journalist’s view came out of the recent TV coverage of the war in Iraq. One news person embedded with a Marine unit was caught in a terrible firefight under a Baghdad overpass.
When Marines around him fell to enemy fire, the journalist admitted he thought about picking up a gun and becoming a combatant an act that would go against the position most journalists take in covering wars as noncombatants. He shocked himself when his will to survive overcame all his journalistic detachment.
He only abandoned his thought when several Marines moved closer to him and offered covering fire. He will carry that tote bag for a long time.
The Reader Advocate’s phone number is 801-257-8782. Write to the Reader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. E-mail: reader.advocate@sltrib.com.
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