Part of the issue many people have with the media is the bias (real or perceived) that accompanies any story broadcast through the particular channel–be it radio, TV, newspaper-and increasingly-blogs and social networking sites.
Such “spin” can really impact a story and leave the person viewing, hearing, or reading it with an impression that the information presented was just that, a story and not something of consequence.
prTini author Heather Whaling wrote about this topic in a very well-written post. She commented that journalism of the highest order takes time, and in the wake of the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death, the news coverage by some of the trusted “old media” outlets was lacking.
She higlights a comment made on Twitter that argues “Information does not equal journalism.” That’s right. Reporting information and the art of crafting a story are two different things. But done well, journalism and reporting work together to produce inspired work.
Jackson’s death has news value because of the impact his music had on people and pop culture. My point, however, is that there were other news items that day (Cap and Trade bill, for instance) that got pushed from the prime news spot as a result of what could be characterized as tabloid news.
So, I agree with Heather. The search for high-caliber journalism, not just mere reporting, takes time. We know that there are myriad tools people can use to be reporters, but it is the people that use those tools in an artistic manner to craft a story from the reports that will garner attention and trust. That is the goal of journalism, and if it takes a little time to reach that goal, so be it.
In other words, the tabloid reporter says Michael Jackson is dead. The journalist will take that report and tell us how and why in an interesting to read manner using story crafting techniques.
Communicating With 