You can easily find people who call themselves “journalists” today who write, broadcast and post things that range from outright lies to careless distortions and irresponsible attacks. Hate groups and white supremacists do a version of what they call “news” reporting.
For years, we’ve had people who call themselves journalists claiming that President Obama was born in Kenya, when there is clear proof that’s not so.
Last weekend, I came across another such specimen who claimed the terrorist murders at the mosques in New Zealand were a fabrication by the liberal media, who want to take our guns away, etc, etc. You may have seen even crazier examples.
So here is a question for you: I have a Master’s degree in journalism. For more than forty years, I have worked for various print and broadcast outlets from public radio to public television; from the Metro Times to the New York Times. I have won many journalism awards, and also taught journalism at a number of universities for more than a quarter of a century.
Now imagine a guy named Joe, who dropped out of high school, lives on a lumpy couch in his grandmother’s basement, has never had a course in journalism, isn’t very good at grammar, and posts what he calls “news flashes” on a blog he created.
Now tell me, when it comes to being a journalist, what legally is the difference between me and Joe? The answer may surprise you – legally, there’s none whatsoever.
Basement dropout Joe is legally just as much of a journalist as I am. Now, is that occasionally irritating? Yes – but the sight of creatures like Ann Coulter masquerading as journalists bothers me more. But I wouldn’t take away her right to claim to be a journalist.
Or Dropout Joe’s. Here’s something you need to know. Doctors can’t practice medicine without a license. Lawyers are licensed, electricians are licensed.
But nobody certifies and licenses journalists.
And you know what? That’s exactly as it should be.
Yes, I know a whole lot more about journalism than Dropout Joe. But the moment someone starts deciding who is a journalist, that means they can decide who isn’t a journalist.
And when that happens, that’s the end of freedom and democracy. Imagine if Donald Trump could decide who could be a journalist and who couldn’t.
Imagine any government bureau which had the power to license journalists or take their licenses away. Actually, I don’t have to imagine it, because I’ve been in such places. The main one was called the Soviet Union, and its Eastern European satellites had the same system.
That’s the last thing in the world we should want. We have freedom of speech and the press in this country because the First Amendment guarantees that to everyone.
“Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,” it says in part.
In other words, nobody can restrict anyone’s right to say or print what they choose. That doesn’t mean we have to blindly accept and believe everything we see. We need to develop the critical thinking skills journalists use every day to evaluate what we read and hear.
That’s the classic gatekeeper role journalists have played throughout much of American history. With mainstream media shrinking, it’s more and more important we all do that too.
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