Elements of Journalism: Monitor Power

Journalists must serve as an independent monitor of power. It's the "watchdog" principle; that we watch over the powerful few in society on behalf of the many to guard against tyranny.

That extends to all powerful institutions in society: government, big business, and in the case of The State News, MSU administrators. It also extends to those in the shadows of society: the poor, everyday Joes, and in the case of The State News, everyday students.

That extends to making known and understood the effects of power. We need to recognize and share with our audience when powerful institutions/people are not working effectively (MSU screws up its budget, tuition goes up 100 percent next year). We also need to recognize when powerful institutions/people are working effectively (MSU finds gold in the Red Cedar River, free tuition for everybody!).

The watchdog principle is executed most notably through investigative reporting. And there are three basic types.

First, there is original investigative reporting. That's when reporters themselves uncover and document activities that have been previously unknown to the public, like when The Detroit Free Press got a hold of text messages between that city's then-mayor and one of his officials, indicating that they'd lied during a past court matter. That connection was completely unknown to the public and even the government (expect for the mayor and his aide) up to that point. 

Second, there is interpretive investigative reporting. That's when careful thought and analysis of an idea and new reporting brings together information in a new, more complete context that provides deeper public understanding. Like The State News did in the summer of 2012, when they ran a three-part series looking at how the combination of escalating tuition and shrinking financial aid was leaving MSU students in a bind. Each individual factor was evident, but the series put it all together to emphasize meaning and effect on everyday students.

Third, there is reporting on investigations, where reporting develops from the discovery of a leak of information from an official investigation already underway or in preparation by others, usually the government or police agencies. For example, often the reports of an athlete using performance-enhancing drugs are sources from police leaks or the obtaining of drug tests results from a drug-testing agency.

Most investigations use some of all three forms.

There are risks to investigative reporting. First, the reporter is granting the interview subject a powerful forum in which to air an allegation without public accountability, especially if the subject is granted anonymity in exchange for the information.

So, a reporter must be on alert over being used. Also, we must use due diligence to ensure the report is in the interest of the audience, and not just a source or sources. Is this something the public wants or needs to know? Does the presentation and the angles that are being emphasized highlight those public interests?

Also, double-check what you are being told by sources. Make sure there is enough evidence independent of the source's statements to support and justify your report.

Elements of Journalism: Engagement And Relevance

Journalists must make significant news interesting and relevant. First, we must consider the differences between storytelling versus information. Storytelling is the art of expression, such as a bedtime story you tell your niece. Information is raw data, such as a sports score.

Journalism is a combination of storytelling and information. The two are not contradictory. Journalism is storytelling with a purpose, and rooted in fact. Our duty is not just to provide information, but to do so in a way people will listen while still adhering to accuracy and truth.

There are various approaches to making important news interesting.Those approaches start with asking yourselves questions, like:

Who is the audience and what do they need to know? What is a given story really about? Let's say you're working for The State News, and you're covering student government. They pass some sort of big budget increase and as part of that budget increase, student fees will go up.What's the main gist of the story, the budget or the fee hike? Which would readers -- in this case, primarily MSU students -- care about most? Which would affect them most directly?

It would be the fee hike, right? So that should be the angle you highlight in how you write the story.

Who is the audience and what to they need to know to make up their own minds about this subject? For example, The State News regularly covers East Lansing City Council meetings. Rather than cover whatever the council considers their biggest actions, reporters look for and concentrate on stories that have the greatest impact or interest to their primary audience -- MSU students -- regardless of how big a part of the meeting those issues were. We're not there to take dictation of the meeting; we're there to highlight what matters most to our audience.

Who has the information? Go to the people most directly involved with the subject matters.

What's the best way to tell this story? For example, on a story about a tuition increase, perhaps you'd want to focus on how the tuition increase will affect the average student by talking to students and asking them how they'll handle the tuition hike.

There are various story styles one can utilize. We'll look at each approach, using examples based on coverage of one of the every-few-years Cedar Fest riots around here.

Elements of Journalism: Making News Comprehensive And Proportional

Journalists should keep the news comprehensive and in proportion. Think of journalism as cartography (the science of mapping). Journalism creates a map for its audience to navigate society (e.g., how much is tuition going up? When is the football game? Is it a good idea to plan another Cedar Fest?). That is its reason for being.

And the value of journalism, like a map, depends on completeness and proportionality; accuracy and the ability to see the whole community in coverage. Otherwise, it's like a map with whole parts of town missing. It leaves the audience poorly informed because so much was left out, and vulnerable to making poor decisions about their needs and societal trends based on what they don't know.

This is why we need to show people not just what they want to know, but also what they need to know and what they don't know.

It's also important to have the ability to see yourself and every-day people in your coverage (that is, your needs, values, interests and that of the community at large reflected by the types of stories presented and issues tackled), and a fair mix of what most people in your community would consider interesting, significant, relevant and/or useful.

In judging the wants and needs of an audience, traditional market research does not work very well, like focus groups and surveys. Usually, those ask people to choose between predictable alternatives, like different brands of a certain product. News is harder to market-research because it changes every day.

And news may not be significant until you know about it. For example, personal safety may not be on your radar as a reader. Unless, that is, The State News has a story about muggings on campus. The news creates interest that wasn't previously there.

Journalism requires a more open-ended approach. Simply pay attention to your community and its people. Find out more about their lives. Ask about and look for broad trends. Focus on everyday people and their problems, and not big-wigs and theirs.

Try to understand how to design a news package that is comprehensive and proportional to their community, their needs and their concerns by asking yourself questions like;

What are people talking about? For example, at MSU they may be talking about how high their student loan debt will go, or whether they will have jobs after graduation.

What are they complaining about? Like tuition hikes and off-campus rent getting more expensive.

What are they doing? Like, working multiple jobs while in school, or getting out of Michigan after graduation.

Getting answers allow newspapers to design coverage that responds directly to your audience. And such coverage rings authentic with readers (because they are seeing issues being addressed that actually appear in their daily lives), who then build trust in you.

Elements of Journalism: Responsibility To Conscience

There are no laws, regulations, licensing or formal self-policing of journalists. All that is prohibited by the First Amendment. So, where does responsibility lay? With each news organization, and the ethics and judgment of individual reporters and editors.

Why is self-policing important? Because a news organization's relevance in a community is based on whether readers trust the authority,honesty or judgment of the journalists who produce it. After all, the audience is free to choose other media, or none at all.

So, everyone in a news organization must have a personal sense of ethics and responsibility, and an obligation to exercise their conscience. We have an obligation to challenge superiors, advertisers, and the audience if fairness and accuracy require that.

(But know the difference between an act of journalistic malfeasance and a journalistic disagreement! You need to find a way to fight the former, but if there's no ethical concern and it's simply a fight over two ethical ways of doing something, then don't push back and do your job as asked.) 

This is another reason intellectual diversity is important to a newsroom. The advantages of cultural diversity are stifled if people from different backgrounds adhere to a single mentality. A newsroom needs to be open and honest so that diversity can function journalistically.

Problem is, there are real-world pressures against individual conscience.Like human nature. In hiring and promotions, editors may select people in their own image, and not take risks on people outside the mainstream.

Plus, there is bureaucratic inertia, in which an environment exists where it is preferable to do what is routine and expected as opposed to what is right and necessary. And there is putting process over product; e.g., running a story simply to fill space, rather than the story having any merits of its own.

Conformity is a risk, in that it's easier to just get along with the mainstream. And unfortunately, there is sometimes the risk of "influence-peddling," where stories are pushed or killed by editors to support a special interest. This is bad journalism.

So, what are we supposed to do? Unfortunately, there are no easy and obvious answers. Doing the right thing is great, but you still have rent to pay and you need your job. Still, it's up to you to find a way to do the right thing. Each reporter is a steward of good journalism. It's up to us.

Elements of Journalism: Introduction

Why is news important? Because it satisfies a basic human impulse to know what's occurring beyond your direct experience. News feeds something called a "hunger for awareness" or the "awareness instinct." 

Being aware of events engenders a sense of security, control and confidence. For example, if you know a tuition increase is coming in advance, you can start saving money or protest school officials before the decision becomes final.

Also, people form relationships, choose friends, and make character judgments based partly on whether someone reacts to information the same way you do. For example, whether someone roots for the same sports teams as you do, or supports the same politician you do, or whether someone is pro-abortion or anti-abortion of doesn't care about the issue.

Why is journalism necessary? Traditional media no longer holds a monopoly on information. Many sources of information are available today: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, TMZ, ESPN, blogs, Google, email, advertising online and by mail and on billboards, direct information from government, businesses, special interest groups, ect.

But journalism uniquely provides independent, reliable, accurate and comprehensive information that makes it possible for citizens to take part in governing themselves.

For example, one spring a few years back The State News reported on MSU planning to hike fall tuition by 7 percent. MSU said that was only an option, even though The State News found the number in an MSU planning document that has been around for about one month. If journalists didn't tell readers that such a hike was possible, who would have? (And yes, the hike went through, as-is.)

How does journalism fulfill its goal to provide people with information they need to be free and self-governing? In several ways: by having an obligation to the truth; by being loyal to its audience; by a "discipline of verification" (applying a rigorous scientific-style standard in verifying facts); and by maintaining an independence from those who are being covered (journalists are representatives of the audience; publicists -- and NOT journalists -- are representatives of news sources).
  
Also, by serving as an independent monitor of power (by watching how government treats citizens, taxes and laws; by watching how businesses treat customers, stockholders and employees; and by watching how schools treat students, staff and tuition money); by providing a forum for public criticism and compromise (through reader letters, online comments, and the seeking of broad relevant viewpoints from various sources); and by making significant stories interesting and relevant to readers' lives (for example, if writing about a tuition increase, write about how it may impact students, how students can blunt the effects of a hike, ect.).

Also, by keeping news comprehensive and in proportion (by reporting all you know and not hyping a story when the interest and relevance just isn't there); and exercising your personal conscience (by doing the right things for the right reasons, not simply to get a story or do what the boss wants you to do).

How do those principles help keep traditional journalism viable? By breeding clarity of purpose, confidence and execution, and public respect. That is, by becoming a trusted and reliable source of information relevant to the lives of your audience, as opposed to simply being a site with information that may or may not be correct, complete or relevant.

Elements Of Journalism: What's Journalism For?

What's journalism for? Helping citizens define the communities the live in and helping create a common language and common knowledge rooted in reality, as well as identifying a community's goals, heroes and villains.

For example, how does The State News do this? By covering events and happenings interesting, relevant and useful to MSU students, staff and faculty and East Lansing residents; by telling the truth so that people will have the information they need to act in their own best interests; and to sere society by informing the people.

Why do people want to be informed? It's because of the "awareness instinct." History shows that people crave news out of basic instinct. People want to know what's going on in their world and beyond their world. Like at MSU, people may be wondering if another tuition increase is brewing. Or if there's another Cedar Fest being planned. Or if the campus is safe to walk at night.

Knowledge of such unknowns help give people security (for example, you can avoid unsafe places). It allows them to plan and negotiate their lives (you can save up or get a bigger loan to blunt a tuition hike). It becomes the basis for creating community and making human connections ("Hey, you going to Cedar Fest?").

How does this help society? History shows the more news and information a society has, the more democratic it is. Knowledge truly is power, and knowledge to the people is power to the people.

How does a free press fit into an electronic age? The Internet specifically and technology in general has dissipated the means of mass communications to the people. People are moving from being passive consumers of news into active participants, with many choices in where to receive news.

Twenty or so years ago, consumer choices were limited by technology. There was not much of an Internet, so choices were print or broadcast or get on a plane and see for yourself. Today, the Internet allows people to choose local media, out-of-town media, social networks, alternative media, whatever.

What's the effect? Journalists no longer control the flow of information. The classic role of "gatekeeper" is irrelevant. News can go around journalism "gates" via the internet. Now, the role of legacy journalism is to make sense of the massive sea of information that's available to the audience. We verify what information is reliable and then order it so people can grasp it in a useful, meaningful way.

(In a way, it's the difference between going to the supermarket and trying to make a great meal, or going to a great restaurant and having that meal made for you. People don't necessarily have the time, desire or skills to sort through all the food choices out there to make a great dinner. In teh same way, they don't necessarily have the time, desire or skills to sort through the flood of information choices now available, so they go to a media professional for that.)

If journalism is to survive, then it must become a force in empowering citizens to shape their own communities based on verified information. You may learn of something from a tweet, but you find out if it's true and what it could mean from a journalist. 

How does mass media stay relevant in an era of niche media? Before we can answer that, let's first explore the Theory of the Interlocking Public. It's the idea that everyone is interested and even expert in something. Niche media exploits this by catering to niche interests. For example, sports people go to ESPN. Gossip junkies go to TMZ. Political junkies go to Politico. MSUers go to The State News.

The theory implies that there are three broad levels of public engagement on every issue; that is, on any given issue, people are members of one of three groups:

The involved public: people who have a stake in an issue.
The interested public: people with no direct role in the issue but who is affected by and responds to the issue.
The uninterested public: pays little attention and will join, if at all, after the issue has been laid out by others.

We are all members of one of these three groups. For example, if the issue was a tuition increase at MSU, the involved public would include students and parents of students. The interested public would include staff, faculty, alumni, and people who will be attending MSU in the future. The uninterested public would include people not in school and/or who don't know anybody in school.

Our challenge is to write stories that may be meaningful and useful to those involved and interested, and interesting and understandable to those who on the surface are uninterested; and to offer a sufficient mix of stories in every newspaper and on every TV newscast that every member of the audience would be interested in at least one of them.

Elements Of Journalism: Truth, The First And Most Confusing Principle

Journalism's first obligation is to the truth. The desire that information be truthful and accurate is elemental. Since news is the material that people use to learn and think about the world beyond themselves, the most important quality is that it be usable and reliable.

(For example, will there be a tuition increase? If so, how large? When's the next home football game? Who's playing?)

If the audience can't rely on what you say -- if you get the tuition increase wrong, and list the wrong date for the football game -- then you are of no use to them.

What is truth? The most basic form is known as "functional truth." That is a society's developed procedures and processes aimed at arriving at a literal truth. For example, MSU writes a budget plan. Police officers write police reports. Statisticians keep track of football games. There are all records of functional truth.

And this is the truth that forms the backbone of journalism. It's a truth by which we can operate on a day-to-day basis by reviewing such documents.

But it's only a starting point for journalists. Bare facts can miss context. We need to get the facts straight, and then make sense of the facts. For example, functional truth like a scoreboard may tell us the football team won a game, but that doesn't necessarily mean they played well. We need to investigate beyond functional truth to set context and meaning.

That doesn't mean facts don't matter. Accuracy is the foundation on which everything else -- like context and debate -- is built upon. If the foundation is faulty, everything else is suspect, including context and meaning.

So, the first responsibility is to concentrate on verification. Sift out rumor and spin, and concentrate on what's true and important about a story. Then build context and meaning only once you've established facts.

Truth is a process. It begins with the first story and builds as follow-ups are written in which we correct mistakes, clarify details, add new or missing elements, dismiss or confirm rumors and innuendo, build context, allow for public debate through online commenting, ect.

For example, in covering the Cedar Fest riots a few years back, initial reports detailed the crowd actions and tear-gassing. This was the foundation. Later reports included additional details, arrest information, public reaction, all built upon the foundation. The, the public chimed in on how students and the authorities handled themselves and why this happened.

In the end, various angles were covered, and the search for truth became a community conversation.

What is fairness and balance? Those are abstract terms that can be tough to define. Are we trying to be fair to who we're reporting on? Not exactly. We're primarily trying to be fair to the truth and the public's truthful understanding of the interview subject.

Likewise, balance isn't fair to the truth if both sides don't deserve equal weight. For example, if you're writing about 9/11, do you give equal time to a 9/11 survivor and a 9/11 denier? Actually, no. Based on the functional truth like documents and witness accounts, the survivor has proven insight on the matter. That same functional truth would indicate the denier has no legitimate insight at all.

False balance can become distortion. Giving unsubstantiated credence to a denier in this case only distorts the truth.

Elements of Journalsm: Who Journalists Work For

Journalism's first loyalty is to its audience. There is an implied agreement with the public that was is reported is true and in their interests. For example, The State News can't have a story on MSU that's slanted in favor of the school just because The State News is MSU's paper. And a story can't be slanted because the subject is a friend of the editor.

And that agreement is in the best financial interest of the news organization. That's because it's necessary to tell the news not only accurately, but persuasively. It's the basis of why the audience believes a news organization. If the audience doesn't trust a newspaper, they will quit reading the newspaper, and the newspaper would be unable to sell ads which are bought by advertisers not because they believe in journalism, but because the newspaper has lots of readers whom the advertiser would like to reach.

If you thought or think The State News is a shill for the administration, would you rely on it in the same way if yo thought it was independent? So, journalists have a social obligation to the news and audience, and must maintain a freedom from all obligations except that of the public interest.

We also must maintain an independence from isolation. There is a danger that having a professional detachment from outside pressures -- such as politicians and lobbyists -- could evolve into disengagement from the community.

Ironically, as journalism became more professional, it became more of a clique, with professionals lacking local connections and becoming free agents, hopping from town to town. Also, journalism became more subjective and judgmental after Watergate and the advent of 24-hour cable TV news. Coverage became increasingly focused on mediating and arguing instead of reporting and explaining. There was a growing focus on motives of public officials, instead of actions that affect readers. Plus, there are business strategies to target affluent households that advertisers most want to access, instead of the general public as a whole.

There has been a backlash to that detachment. People on the business end of journalism want greater accountability from reporters and editors. They want to use research to find out what the audience wants. They see themselves as fighting to keep journalism relevant.

But writers and editors fear that approach can intrude on independence. They fear that may allow advertisers, rather than news value, to dictate coverage. They see themselves as fighting to protect the public interest. This tension is still playing itself out, and the resolution seems unclear.

Citizens are not customers. The business relationship of journalism with its audience is different that other businesses with their customers.  Traditional businesses sell services and products to customers. Journalists build a relationship with their audience. That is not a nit-pick difference; the relationship is built upon values, judgment, authority, coverage, professionalism and commitment to the community. That creates a bond with the audience. Then, the news organization rents the bond to advertisers, via ads.

The advertiser is the one buying goods and services (in the form of advertising), and not the audience. The trust with the audience is what creates something the advertiser finds worthy of buying. Hence, the traditional "wall" between advertising and news content, and a deference to the newsroom to make journalistic decisions independently.

Elements of Journalism: Journalism Of Verification

 The essence of journalism is a discipline of verification. That is, journalism isn't about writing; it's about getting it right, and having a system in place to fact-test information as we discover it.

Verification is what separates journalism from other forms of communication. Entertainment focuses on what is most diverting. Propaganda selects or invents facts to persuade and manipulate. Fiction invents scenarios. Art is based on creating and expressing impressions. Journalism is focused on getting what happened down right.

The meaning of objectivity has been lost. Originally, it was an appeal for journalists to develop a consistent method of testing information, like the reliance on functional truth that we discussed earlier, so that the personal and cultural biases of reporters would not undermine the accuracy of work.

Objectivity is a device to persuade the audience of one's accuracy and fairness. And journalism and science come from the same intellectual roots. In the same way a scientist comes up with a theory and then runs experiments to prove or disprove the theory, a journalist starts out with a presumption, and then find facts (via documents, witness statements, ect.) to find what is rooted in fact, and what is not.

The "science of reporting" is known as the Objective Method. There are several key points to the method. First, never add anything that wasn't there. Don't invent things, rearrange events in time or place or modify or combine people or events. Your writing can arrange events based on news value, but be sure to make it clear that it's out of sequence.

Second, never deceive the audience. Fooling people is a form of lying and it mocks the idea that journalism is committed to truthfulness. If you vary from the most literal form of eyewitness reporting, let your audience know or don't do it.

Third, be as transparent as possible about your methods and motives. Be as open and honest with audiences about what you know and what you don't. Acknowledge obvious questions your stories are not answering. Ask yourself, what does the reader need to know to evaluate this information for themselves? Also ask yourself, is there anything in your treatment of a story that requires explanation of why you did something of left something out?

Doing so shows respect for your audience. It also helps establish credibility through the expressed public interest motive.

Fourth, clearly identify sources -- both individuals and documents -- and explain any anonymous sourcing.

The problem with the science of reporting is, there is no single standard for verification. Doctors and scientists have rigorous standards based on natural law. For example, if you're doing an experiment on freezing water, water will freeze at 32 degrees, no matter what.

But media, by nature, is more subjective and interpretive. For example, how much proof is enough proof? It's situational and argumentative.

Society as a whole may not agree on a single truth. Think of the abortion debate: different groups have different truths. If you're pro-abortion, it's a right enshrined in law. If you're anti-abortion, it's sanctioned murder. In such instances, the public sphere becomes one of argument, and not agreement on what is truth.

Fairness and balance can also be interpreted differently. So instead of striving to define such terms, it's better to use techniques to help guide journalists in developing and verifying their work. As we noted earlier, balance can lead to distortion.

So, fairness should mean you are being fair to the facts and the audience's understanding of the facts, and not to a particular source  or that your story is balanced in a distorted way. When you try to determine accuracy based on fact-testing, that is journalism. If all you're doing is getting one side and then the other, then you're simply enabling an argument.

Elements of Journalism: Independence From Faction

Journalists must maintain an independence from those they cover. That manifests itself in several ways.

First, you must have an independence of mind. That means avoiding conflicts of interest; defined loosely as the avoidance of connections, benefits, and relationships that may draw into question your intentions.

For example, if you're on the football team, it would be a conflict of interest to write about the football team. If you're dating the mayor, you probably shouldn't be writing about local politics. If you're writing about an anti-war protest, don't participate in or donate to anti-war groups.

This applies to opinion writers as well! Their loyalty is to accuracy and the facts, even if seen from a partisan point of view. They are true to a set of ideas -- like conservatism -- rather than a member of a team -- the Republican Party -- and puts the audience first.

Second, you must have independence from class or economic status. There is a class divide between those who produce news, and those who receive it. It's become more pronounced since journalism has become more professional.

Solutions include recruiting more people from a diversity of classes and backgrounds and interests, so that newsrooms aren't so insular (e.g., the same kinds of people with the same parochial patterns).

Third, you must have an independence from race, ethnicity, religion and gender. Newsrooms lacking diversity are unable to do their jobs properly, and may not be able to appreciate, understand or learn of all the audiences they report to.

For example, a few years back The State News was very slow to pick up on anger among black students here over the Jena Six incident. At the same time, the newsroom was overwhelmingly white and suburban in their roots. The disconnect and newsroom composition were probably not a coincidence.

Diversity does NOT compromise independence. The key is whether editors and reporters maintain their primary allegiance to the core journalistic values that build toward truthfulness and informing the public. In that case, racial and ethnic and class and religious and ideological backgrounds inform their work without dictating it.

The end result is a richer, fuller view of the world for the public. Creating barriers to diversity and the related process of discovery is disloyal to your audience, by narrowing the newsroom's world view. Good judgment and first allegiance to the audience is what separates the journalist from the partisan.  

Elements of Journalism: Monitor Power

Journalists must serve as an independent monitor of power. It's the "watchdog" principle; that we watch over the powerful few in society on behalf of the many to guard against tyranny.

That extends to all powerful institutions in society: government, big business, and in the case of The State News, MSU administrators. It also extends to those in the shadows of society: the poor, everyday Joes, and in the case of The State News, everyday students.

That extends to making known and understood the effects of power. We need to recognize and share with our audience when powerful institutions/people are not working effectively (MSU screws up its budget, tuition goes up 100 percent next year). We also need to recognize when powerful institutions/people are working effectively (MSU finds gold in the Red Cedar River, free tuition for everybody!).

The watchdog principle is executed most notably through investigative reporting. And there are three basic types.

First, there is original investigative reporting. That's when reporters themselves uncover and document activities that have been previously unknown to the public, like when The Detroit Free Press got a hold of text messages between that city's then-mayor and one of his officials, indicating that they'd lied during a past court matter. That connection was completely unknown to the public and even the government (expect for the mayor and his aide) up to that point. 

Second, there is interpretive investigative reporting. That's when careful thought and analysis of an idea and new reporting brings together information in a new, more complete context that provides deeper public understanding. Like The State News did in the summer of 2012, when they ran a three-part series looking at how the combination of escalating tuition and shrinking financial aid was leaving MSU students in a bind. Each individual factor was evident, but the series put it all together to emphasize meaning and effect on everyday students.

Third, there is reporting on investigations, where reporting develops from the discovery of a leak of information from an official investigation already underway or in preparation by others, usually the government or police agencies. For example, often the reports of an athlete using performance-enhancing drugs are sources from police leaks or the obtaining of drug tests results from a drug-testing agency.

Most investigations use some of all three forms.

There are risks to investigative reporting. First, the reporter is granting the interview subject a powerful forum in which to air an allegation without public accountability, especially if the subject is granted anonymity in exchange for the information.

So, a reporter must be on alert over being used. Also, we must use due diligence to ensure the report is in the interest of the audience, and not just a source or sources. Is this something the public wants or needs to know? Does the presentation and the angles that are being emphasized highlight those public interests?

Also, double-check what you are being told by sources. Make sure there is enough evidence independent of the source's statements to support and justify your report.

Elements of Journalism: Engagement And Relevance

Journalists must make significant news interesting and relevant. First, we must consider the differences between storytelling versus information. Storytelling is the art of expression, such as a bedtime story you tell your niece. Information is raw data, such as a sports score.

Journalism is a combination of storytelling and information. The two are not contradictory. Journalism is storytelling with a purpose, and rooted in fact. Our duty is not just to provide information, but to do so in a way people will listen while still adhering to accuracy and truth.

There are various approaches to making important news interesting.Those approaches start with asking yourselves questions, like:

Who is the audience and what do they need to know? What is a given story really about? Let's say you're working for The State News, and you're covering student government. They pass some sort of big budget increase and as part of that budget increase, student fees will go up.What's the main gist of the story, the budget or the fee hike? Which would readers -- in this case, primarily MSU students -- care about most? Which would affect them most directly?

It would be the fee hike, right? So that should be the angle you highlight in how you write the story.

Who is the audience and what to they need to know to make up their own minds about this subject? For example, The State News regularly covers East Lansing City Council meetings. Rather than cover whatever the council considers their biggest actions, reporters look for and concentrate on stories that have the greatest impact or interest to their primary audience -- MSU students -- regardless of how big a part of the meeting those issues were. We're not there to take dictation of the meeting; we're there to highlight what matters most to our audience.

Who has the information? Go to the people most directly involved with the subject matters.

What's the best way to tell this story? For example, on a story about a tuition increase, perhaps you'd want to focus on how the tuition increase will affect the average student by talking to students and asking them how they'll handle the tuition hike.

There are various story styles one can utilize. We'll look at each approach, using examples based on coverage of one of the every-few-years Cedar Fest riotsaround here.

Elements of Journalism: Making News Comprehensive And Proportional

Journalists should keep the news comprehensive and in proportion. Think of journalism as cartography (the science of mapping). Journalism creates a map for its audience to navigate society (e.g., how much is tuition going up? When is the football game? Is it a good idea to plan another Cedar Fest?). That is its reason for being.

And the value of journalism, like a map, depends on completeness and proportionality; accuracy and the ability to see the whole community in coverage. Otherwise, it's like a map with whole parts of town missing. It leaves the audience poorly informed because so much was left out, and vulnerable to making poor decisions about their needs and societal trends based on what they don't know.

This is why we need to show people not just what they want to know, but also what they need to know and what they don't know.

It's also important to have the ability to see yourself and every-day people in your coverage (that is, your needs, values, interests and that of the community at large reflected by the types of stories presented and issues tackled), and a fair mix of what most people in your community would consider interesting, significant, relevant and/or useful.

In judging the wants and needs of an audience, traditional market research does not work very well, like focus groups and surveys. Usually, those ask people to choose between predictable alternatives, like different brands of a certain product. News is harder to market-research because it changes every day.

And news may not be significant until you know about it. For example, personal safety may not be on your radar as a reader. Unless, that is, The State News has a story about muggings on campus. The news creates interest that wasn't previously there.

Journalism requires a more open-ended approach. Simply pay attention to your community and its people. Find out more about their lives. Ask about and look for broad trends. Focus on everyday people and their problems, and not big-wigs and theirs.

Try to understand how to design a news package that is comprehensive and proportional to their community, their needs and their concerns by asking yourself questions like;

What are people talking about? For example, at MSU they may be talking about how high their student loan debt will go, or whether they will have jobs after graduation.

What are they complaining about? Like tuition hikes and off-campus rent getting more expensive.

What are they doing? Like, working multiple jobs while in school, or getting out of Michigan after graduation.

Getting answers allow newspapers to design coverage that responds directly to your audience. And such coverage rings authentic with readers (because they are seeing issues being addressed that actually appear in their daily lives), who then build trust in you.

Elements of Journalism: Responsibility To Conscience

There are no laws, regulations, licensing or formal self-policing of journalists. All that is prohibited by the First Amendment. So, where does responsibility lay? With each news organization, and the ethics and judgment of individual reporters and editors.

Why is self-policing important? Because a news organization's relevance in a community is based on whether readers trust the authority,honesty or judgment of the journalists who produce it. After all, the audience is free to choose other media, or none at all.

So, everyone in a news organization must have a personal sense of ethics and responsibility, and an obligation to exercise their conscience. We have an obligation to challenge superiors, advertisers, and the audience if fairness and accuracy require that.

(But know the difference between an act of journalistic malfeasance and a journalistic disagreement! You need to find a way to fight the former, but if there's no ethical concern and it's simply a fight over two ethical ways of doing something, then don't push back and do your job as asked.) 

This is another reason intellectual diversity is important to a newsroom. The advantages of cultural diversity are stifled if people from different backgrounds adhere to a single mentality. A newsroom needs to be open and honest so that diversity can function journalistically.

Problem is, there are real-world pressures against individual conscience.Like human nature. In hiring and promotions, editors may select people in their own image, and not take risks on people outside the mainstream.

Plus, there is bureaucratic inertia, in which an environment exists where it is preferable to do what is routine and expected as opposed to what is right and necessary. And there is putting process over product; e.g., running a story simply to fill space, rather than the story having any merits of its own.

Conformity is a risk, in that it's easier to just get along with the mainstream. And unfortunately, there is sometimes the risk of "influence-peddling," where stories are pushed or killed by editors to support a special interest. This is bad journalism.

So, what are we supposed to do? Unfortunately, there are no easy and obvious answers. Doing the right thing is great, but you still have rent to pay and you need your job. Still, it's up to you to find a way to do the right thing. Each reporter is a steward of good journalism. It's up to us.

Elements of Journalism: Introduction

Why is news important? Because it satisfies a basic human impulse to know what's occurring beyond your direct experience. News feeds something called a "hunger for awareness" or the "awareness instinct." 

Being aware of events engenders a sense of security, control and confidence. For example, if you know a tuition increase is coming in advance, you can start saving money or protest school officials before the decision becomes final.

Also, people form relationships, choose friends, and make character judgments based partly on whether someone reacts to information the same way you do. For example, whether someone roots for the same sports teams as you do, or supports the same politician you do, or whether someone is pro-abortion or anti-abortion of doesn't care about the issue.

Why is journalism necessary? Traditional media no longer holds a monopoly on information. Many sources of information are available today: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, TMZ, ESPN, blogs, Google, email, advertising online and by mail and on billboards, direct information from government, businesses, special interest groups, ect.

But journalism uniquely provides independent, reliable, accurate and comprehensive information that makes it possible for citizens to take part in governing themselves.

For example, one spring a few years back The State News reported on MSU planning to hike fall tuition by 7 percent. MSU said that was only an option, even though The State News found the number in an MSU planning document that has been around for about one month. If journalists didn't tell readers that such a hike was possible, who would have? (And yes, the hike went through, as-is.)

How does journalism fulfill its goal to provide people with information they need to be free and self-governing? In several ways: by having an obligation to the truth; by being loyal to its audience; by a "discipline of verification" (applying a rigorous scientific-style standard in verifying facts); and by maintaining an independence from those who are being covered (journalists are representatives of the audience; publicists -- and NOT journalists -- are representatives of news sources).
  
Also, by serving as an independent monitor of power (by watching how government treats citizens, taxes and laws; by watching how businesses treat customers, stockholders and employees; and by watching how schools treat students, staff and tuition money); by providing a forum for public criticism and compromise (through reader letters, online comments, and the seeking of broad relevant viewpoints from various sources); and by making significant stories interesting and relevant to readers' lives (for example, if writing about a tuition increase, write about how it may impact students, how students can blunt the effects of a hike, ect.).

Also, by keeping news comprehensive and in proportion (by reporting all you know and not hyping a story when the interest and relevance just isn't there); and exercising your personal conscience (by doing the right things for the right reasons, not simply to get a story or do what the boss wants you to do).

How do those principles help keep traditional journalism viable? By breeding clarity of purpose, confidence and execution, and public respect. That is, by becoming a trusted and reliable source of information relevant to the lives of your audience, as opposed to simply being a site with information that may or may not be correct, complete or relevant.

Elements Of Journalism: What's Journalism For?

What's journalism for? Helping citizens define the communities the live in and helping create a common language and common knowledge rooted in reality, as well as identifying a community's goals, heroes and villains.

For example, how does The State News do this? By covering events and happenings interesting, relevant and useful to MSU students, staff and faculty and East Lansing residents; by telling the truth so that people will have the information they need to act in their own best interests; and to sere society by informing the people.

Why do people want to be informed? It's because of the "awareness instinct." History shows that people crave news out of basic instinct. People want to know what's going on in their world and beyond their world. Like at MSU, people may be wondering if another tuition increase is brewing. Or if there's another Cedar Fest being planned. Or if the campus is safe to walk at night.

Knowledge of such unknowns help give people security (for example, you can avoid unsafe places). It allows them to plan and negotiate their lives (you can save up or get a bigger loan to blunt a tuition hike). It becomes the basis for creating community and making human connections ("Hey, you going to Cedar Fest?").

How does this help society? History shows the more news and information a society has, the more democratic it is. Knowledge truly is power, and knowledge to the people is power to the people.

How does a free press fit into an electronic age? The Internet specifically and technology in general has dissipated the means of mass communications to the people. People are moving from being passive consumers of news into active participants, with many choices in where to receive news.

Twenty or so years ago, consumer choices were limited by technology. There was not much of an Internet, so choices were print or broadcast or get on a plane and see for yourself. Today, the Internet allows people to choose local media, out-of-town media, social networks, alternative media, whatever.

What's the effect? Journalists no longer control the flow of information. The classic role of "gatekeeper" is irrelevant. News can go around journalism "gates" via the internet. Now, the role of legacy journalism is to make sense of the massive sea of information that's available to the audience. We verify what information is reliable and then order it so people can grasp it in a useful, meaningful way.

(In a way, it's the difference between going to the supermarket and trying to make a great meal, or going to a great restaurant and having that meal made for you. People don't necessarily have the time, desire or skills to sort through all the food choices out there to make a great dinner. In teh same way, they don't necessarily have the time, desire or skills to sort through the flood of information choices now available, so they go to a media professional for that.)

If journalism is to survive, then it must become a force in empowering citizens to shape their own communities based on verified information. You may learn of something from a tweet, but you find out if it's true and what it could mean from a journalist. 

How does mass media stay relevant in an era of niche media? Before we can answer that, let's first explore the Theory of the Interlocking Public. It's the idea that everyone is interested and even expert in something. Niche media exploits this by catering to niche interests. For example, sports people go to ESPN. Gossip junkies go to TMZ. Political junkies go to Politico. MSUers go to The State News.

The theory implies that there are three broad levels of public engagement on every issue; that is, on any given issue, people are members of one of three groups:

The involved public: people who have a stake in an issue.
The interested public: people with no direct role in the issue but who is affected by and responds to the issue.
The uninterested public: pays little attention and will join, if at all, after the issue has been laid out by others.

We are all members of one of these three groups. For example, if the issue was a tuition increase at MSU, the involved public would include students and parents of students. The interested public would include staff, faculty, alumni, and people who will be attending MSU in the future. The uninterested public would include people not in school and/or who don't know anybody in school.

Our challenge is to write stories that may be meaningful and useful to those involved and interested, and interesting and understandable to those who on the surface are uninterested; and to offer a sufficient mix of stories in every newspaper and on every TV newscast that every member of the audience would be interested in at least one of them.

Elements Of Journalism: Truth, The First And Most Confusing Principle

Journalism's first obligation is to the truth. The desire that information be truthful and accurate is elemental. Since news is the material that people use to learn and think about the world beyond themselves, the most important quality is that it be usable and reliable.

(For example, will there be a tuition increase? If so, how large? When's the next home football game? Who's playing?)

If the audience can't rely on what you say -- if you get the tuition increase wrong, and list the wrong date for the football game -- then you are of no use to them.

What is truth? The most basic form is known as "functional truth." That is a society's developed procedures and processes aimed at arriving at a literal truth. For example, MSU writes a budget plan. Police officers write police reports. Statisticians keep track of football games. There are all records of functional truth.

And this is the truth that forms the backbone of journalism. It's a truth by which we can operate on a day-to-day basis by reviewing such documents.

But it's only a starting point for journalists. Bare facts can miss context. We need to get the facts straight, and then make sense of the facts. For example, functional truth like a scoreboard may tell us the football team won a game, but that doesn't necessarily mean they played well. We need to investigate beyond functional truth to set context and meaning.

That doesn't mean facts don't matter. Accuracy is the foundation on which everything else -- like context and debate -- is built upon. If the foundation is faulty, everything else is suspect, including context and meaning.

So, the first responsibility is to concentrate on verification. Sift out rumor and spin, and concentrate on what's true and important about a story. Then build context and meaning only once you've established facts.

Truth is a process. It begins with the first story and builds as follow-ups are written in which we correct mistakes, clarify details, add new or missing elements, dismiss or confirm rumors and innuendo, build context, allow for public debate through online commenting, ect.

For example, in covering the Cedar Fest riots a few years back, initial reports detailed the crowd actions and tear-gassing. This was the foundation. Later reports included additional details, arrest information, public reaction, all built upon the foundation. The, the public chimed in on how students and the authorities handled themselves and why this happened.

In the end, various angles were covered, and the search for truth became a community conversation.

What is fairness and balance? Those are abstract terms that can be tough to define. Are we trying to be fair to who we're reporting on? Not exactly. We're primarily trying to be fair to the truth and the public's truthful understanding of the interview subject.

Likewise, balance isn't fair to the truth if both sides don't deserve equal weight. For example, if you're writing about 9/11, do you give equal time to a 9/11 survivor and a 9/11 denier? Actually, no. Based on the functional truth like documents and witness accounts, the survivor has proven insight on the matter. That same functional truth would indicate the denier has no legitimate insight at all.

False balance can become distortion. Giving unsubstantiated credence to a denier in this case only distorts the truth.