"Journalism is the material that people use to learn and think about the world" (pg 37, Elements of Journalism). This quote illustrates the weight that journalism has on citizens because of their reliance on news. The in-class example of the "bag of ignorance" illustrated very well the disservice citizens commit to themeselves when they don't pay attention to the news. A reason "journalism's first obligation is to the truth" is because citizens exert a sense of trust to journalists as they read their product (pg 36, Elements of Journalism) . There may not be such a thing as truth that is undiluted, as a result of innate bias and other factors, but as Albert Einstein said, "it's not about truth but about making what we know less false".
"You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!" (Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men).
After the clip of The Insider, there was a discussion in class about whether it was ethical for CBS to air its findings on a tobacco company, news that would potentially tarnish the company. I think a good way to view a dilemma such as this, is to ask, "Will this information if released, do more harm or good?" I think in most cases in the world of journalism, such information will do more good. But in a case such as the gay magazine that outed a pastor who was at a same-sex attraction support group - probably did more harm than good.
Of course there will always be opposing views when it comes to releasing the truth or what is the actual truth, hence the name of the chapter in Elements of a Journalist, Truth: The First and Most Confusing Principle .
Nice picture and quote.
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