Journalists catching the early condemnation

In light of the recent slatings that Journalists receive, let’s also see it from where they’re sitting (or running) for us to understand them better.   

Humans generally react negatively before we have understood the full meaning of something. If we don’t like eating tripe, how can we say that without even having tasted it. It is merely the bad image of it that makes us believe it won’t taste good. 

Let’s get behind the typewriter, so to speak of a Journalist or Media person to get a taste of where they are coming from to try to understand their perspective a little better.

There is a lot of thankless work behind the scenes before the end product of published work, or before the makeup under spotlights is splashed on. It is a ‘do or die’ mentality they have to adopt to survive. This amidst long hours, low pay (unless they’ve built a solid reputation in their game), and of course deadlines with every piece they cover. 

The amount of time spent on one news piece at a time goes unnoticed, most of the time. That’s without mentioning the time taken to actually get it edited, polished and ready for the ‘production line’. Odd hours, average of 10 hours a day – and that’s on a good day, resurgence for that breaking news story at a moment’s notice. Let’s face it, Journalists aren’t fortune tellers and can’t tell when they’ll happen, they must just be ready for if it happens and to be at the right place at the right time. 

Researching, sourcing the right experts to get the right information from, and then getting to meet them for the actual interview all takes huge hours to put together. And did I mention the time to actually produce an editorial or piece?

And of course, all of the above is being done to a deadline. ‘Early birds catch the worm’. In this case, they catch the story or that prime interview etc. To add to the pressure is the fact that their stories must be non-biased and truthful, but still powerful enough to engage the facts. They could face interviewees who have undergone trauma or disaster of some sort. Once they have the required information in hand, they’ve got to cement and way up the information into ‘their hard drive’ whilst on the move.

Since the advent of modern day media methods, the traditional journalist has had to reinvent him/herself to adjust to the streams of the web and social media. Journalists are inspirational story-tellers who’s story will become part of factual history, from relating real-life thrillers to heart-rending warmers. 

Investigative journalists uncover truths about shady areas no one knew about before, so they are informative, they make us aware and can change perceptions. 

I hope I’ve succeeded in doing a bit of all of these.