Why Journalists Should Be Ashamed, Especially New York Magazine

I was complaining to my friend, Lauren, a few weeks ago about how ridiculous the field of journalism has become.  What was supposed to be an important role in society filled with honest and courageous people has become for the most part, slimy.  I have wanted to be a reporter since I was a child and I eventually got my degree in journalism.  I was in my second year of college when I began to realize that I wasn’t going to make a difference like I thought I would.  The stories are no longer armed with integrity because reporters are too busy creating hype and instigating emotions for ratings. 

This is of course, nothing new, but recent events have made me want to write about it.

Les Brownlee was my professor in my first journalism class at Columbia.  He was the first black on-air news reporter in the '60s in Chicago and interviewed Dr. Martin Luther King during the Civil Right’s Movement. He was 89 years old at the time he was teaching my class and I remember him expressing concerns about where the industry was headed.  He had a passion for the truth and believed that it is an honor to report the news.  He believed that journalism was a respected position and that they had a duty to report the truth, no matter what the price may be.  He also believed that journalists were necessary for our country to run efficiently.  I remember the first two years of college pretty much being this: my opinions and voice were intentionally beat out of me because they have no business being on paper.  If I turned in anything with a slant, if you could hear my opinion or my voice in my writing, my paper came back in red. My professors did not mess around and so it just boggles my mind that journalists editorialize pieces that are not in any way supposed to be editorialized.  Journalists are telling people how to think and that is wrong.  

Reporters are supposed to report the facts and tell us what, where, when, why and how.  They are supposed to be unbiased, they are supposed to investigate and they are not supposed to speculate.  Sadly, the hype and the drama and talking heads have taken over what was once meant to be the fourth estate.  Journalists were supposed to be a final check and balance for the people and it simply isn’t that anymore.  Rushing to report the “facts” first has created utter chaos and has compromised the system.

I work in the legal field now and my job isn’t far off from what I would have been doing as a journalist.  When you spend your days analyzing documents and piecing facts together, you learn that in the end, evidence is all you really have to tell a story and if you are diligent and choose logic over emotion and if you truly care, you will do the work to find the truth.  There have been situations at work when I have been leaning one way about a plaintiff or defendant and by the time I have all of the documents and I have read everything, I have completely changed my mind.  Something is only logical when the pieces fit together and you can’t logically disregard the ones that don’t fit just because it doesn't line up with what you want it to.  We are all supposed to be using our brains and analyzing.  You do this by fact checking, you don’t trust people and when something doesn’t make sense, you figure out why.  You NEVER make bold statements until you have everything in front of you.  The legal system is there for a reason and quite honestly, I am sick and tired of the media disregarding the legal process. 

Were any of us in the room when Bill Cosby “raped” or “drugged” a woman?  Have any of us taken depositions and read court transcripts?  No.  We haven’t gotten all of the facts yet because it hasn’t even gotten that far.  People are coming out of the woodwork accusing this man and he hasn’t even had his day in court.  We are not supposed to vilify anyone and the media should know that they need to be very careful when choosing their sources and should avoid creating a circus. 

But that isn’t what keeps our attention, right?  We care more about drama and dirt than we do the facts.  

Below is a screenshot of something New York Magazine posted a couple of days ago.  They are reporting that the man who pushed another man onto a train track claims he doesn’t remember doing it.  They write “How convenient”.  Below is my response.  They deleted it.  I reposted it because I was shocked that a "credible" news source would do something like that because I disagreed with them. It wouldn't post because they blocked me from being allowed to comment.  This is sick:

I am nauseated when I think about what the media has become.   We have to be more diligent on our own and reject the hype and demand the facts and nothing else.  We have to hold off on making assumptions and instead, use our critical thinking skills and wait patiently for the truth. 

And New York Magazine, you should be ashamed of yourself.