In an age when speed and efficiency are valued at such a high standard, journalists and editors are increasingly pressured to put out news information as soon as it breaks. Although the growth of online journalism and blogs give the public quick access to information, it is causing the quality of journalism to suffer. As PR professionals, we can learn many lessons from journalists and the importance of doing thorough research before reporting any information to the public.
It’s so easy to make mistakes when things are done quickly and to be considered a credible journalist, it’s not worth reporting information before the facts have been checked and confirmed.
A classic example was on May 13, 2006 when the BBC quite literally interviewed the wrong “Guy” for their segment on live television. A producer for the show came out to the lobby looking for Guy Kewney, who was supposed to be interviewed for the show, but it turned out that the producer grabbed Guy Goma, a man waiting for a job interview with the BBC Technology Department. This mistake caused weeks of embarrassment for the BBC and was all over news sites within a few hours of airing.
Left: (Guy Goma courtesy of the DailyMail.co.uk)
Right: (Guy Kewney courtesy of Fronline.co.uk)
Later that day, The Guardian, as well as several other publications posted on their websites that the man who had been mistakenly interviewed, Guy Goma, was a cab driver. On May 15, Reuters posted the same story on its website.
But the following day, Reuters came out with the real story. Goma was a data cleansing expert and was at the BBC for a job interview working with the IT department. "The mixup is being blamed on a young, inexperienced producer," said the Reuters video next to which was no correction on the previous day's story. The Guardian's article also does not have a correction.
The new wave of journalism in which being the first to report news overpowers the need to have accurate facts is hurting the quality of journalism the public receives. There are too many opinions instead of facts out in the online community, causing the actual events to be undermined.
In a letter to The Guardian a reader wrote, "The growth of blogs and online communities seems to be contributing plenty in the way of opinion, of which there’s already plenty and not much in the way of facts. This is creating a brand of journalism in which it doesn’t really matter if you get things wrong.”
People are hungry for information, but are often only offered opinions. Journalism may be losing its focus: to report the facts. Journalists need to be equally responsible in ensuring they produce news and information that has value. As PR professionals, we rely on our relationships with journalists to report accurate information and gain credibility for our clients. However, this relationship is becoming hindered because of pressures on editors and journalists to keep producing new content to make deadlines.
In his novel Flat Earth News, Nick Davies refers to the current state of global media as ‘churnalism,’ in which journalists are constantly trying to churn out stories at rapid speeds “Speed. The problems of churnalism have become even worse with the arrival of news websites-some of them staffed by specialist journalists; some of them by mainstream reporters who file copy for the site was well for their traditional outlets. For all of them, the possibility of filing their stories immediately has become an imperative to spend even less time on their work, even less time checking. Rapid repackaging takes over.”
As new technologies continue to emerge, it will be interesting to see the effects and pressures they have on journalism and the media industry. But as PR professionals, we can learn many lessons from journalists; one of the most important being to always do thorough research and present accurate facts. We also must appreciate the pressures journalists are under and help the relationship by giving well researched facts and knowledgeable spokespeople to achieve a positive outcome for the public.
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Note: On April 8, 2010 Guy Kewney sadly passed away at age 63 after battling with bowel and liver cancer. He was one of the most influential writers of the technology world and had long stints with publications such as PC Magazine and Personal Computer World.
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