Journalism, not Reporting

Best of the Web for July 3 notes the triumphalism in the media coverage of the Hamdan decision. You'd think they were cheering. I'm sure there are plenty of James Taranto's associates who consider such comments as old fashioned and reactionary, but I'd love to see a poll on what the public expects from a news outlet. I'd bet that "Being told what to think" is not high on the results list.

As Taranto notes, this tone is not good reporting, since commentators, but not reporters, are supposed to express opinions, not that you'd know this from observing their product over the past 40 years. Apparently, this is one of those teachings that is taught in Journalism School and repeated endlessly to the public, but ignored in practice, like so many of the principles taught in Business Schools.

Is it ironic then that the MSM is failing both in reporting AND in business? Not really, since the basic ethical rules in both endeavors begin with basic honesty. Newspapers today have become so focused on the Watergate rewards, such as "bringing down" government officials, crusading for liberal causes, providing leaked information, etc. that they have forgotten that they're supposed to be ojective, fair and non-partisan in their news pages, even if they feature Opinion on the Op-Ed pages as well. There's a reason that reporters aren't supposed to insert their opinions in straight news and why they don't get to be columnists right off the bat. They're supposed to learn the craft of reporting first and only after it's clear that they know the distinction, are they usuallly allowed to telll us what their views are. The problem is that very few with that arcane knowledge are still active as editors, apparenlty. Everybody want his/her own by-line and then a column of one's own, but few are willing to go through the apprenticeship anymore.