100 Things Journalists Should Never Do
In class the other day, we looked at The New York Times article titled “100 Things Restaurant Workers Should Never Do”. Poynter has recently come out with an article asking people to tweet “100 Things Journalists Should Never Do”. It’s interesting because it lists some of these things and also allows its readers to interact through social networking. The article doesn’t have the full 100 tips, but it has a few of Poynter’s tweets and some input from its readers. What are some tips that you would add to this list based on your experience?
posted by Stephanie Huff at
11:19 AM
3 Comments:
I tend to find such lists to be rather cliche, but I really like this one. The tip that I find most insightful is #13, which states "Never say you're unbiased. You are biased. The best journalists mitigate their biases, they don't deny them."
By
Matthew Livi, At
November 18, 2009 6:27 PM
Anybody else notice the list started out as "NEVER DO" and Poynter's actual list is not formatted that way. Like: "#1 Know the audience, what information they want/need & how they want to learn & share it. News is an activity, not a product." That is definitely not in the same format. It really bothers me.
By
Alex Newman, At
November 18, 2009 6:31 PM
I completely agree with the formatting comment. Every time I read each entry, I wasn't sure if the list was saying it was something I should do or avoid. That could have been A LOT clearer.
But one entry I did find interesting was that journalists should: #2 Always be willing to let any answer -- including one on deadline -- completely change the story's direction. I think this is really important, and too often when working under deadlines reporters go into a story knowing what they want to write and only include sources that tell that story, regardless of what subsequent research may lead to. Reporters should always have an open mind and let the sources tell the story. They should not necessarily ask questions that will merely reinforce the angle of the story they already know. (This assumes reporters should do this).
By
Erin, At
December 11, 2009 4:55 PM
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