Independence in Journalism

Whenever I speak of independence I always think back to the colonial times when the settlers were trying to break free of England’s tight grip over the colonies and what that must have been like. Independence in Journalism is a little different, but it still means to separate yourself from, and not being subject to control by others. Independence is the fourth principle in journalism (http://tinyurl.com/djszyf). Meaning Journalists must maintain an independence from those people and topics they cover. A journalist can’t be swayed by outside forces in their work. Their stand must be equal and look at all sides of the event. This could be termed as independence from faction, or having a true set of ideas rather than a member of a team, someone who puts the audience first (http://tinyurl.com/3wp7py2). Journalist have to be committed not only to their audience but to themselves. A journalist has to promise themself that they won’t have any conflicts of interest while working on a report. This is defined as an independence of mind and is crucial to a journalist and their work, for there can be no obstacles while reporting. The book The Elements of Journalism says, “Friendship, opportunities, and flattery all will conspire to seduce the opinion writer to cross the line” (p. 120). Living up to this principle of independence of mind is very difficult, take the case of Maggie Gallagher (http://tinyurl.com/d2qczz). She was an outstanding journalist for the New York Post and was always making her stance clear on being honest and completely committed to your work. Then, Howard Kurtz, media writer for the Washington Post, finds out she’s writing under a federal contract to promote President Bush’s marriage initiative. She goes to defend herself, stating she wasn’t aware of an issue between the two jobs she had. Well, it is too bad she didn’t reveal her contract because she just shot herself in the foot by not opening up about this conflict of interest. The moral of the story is, don’t get yourself involved in journalism without maintaining independence from your work and personal life.