Good Journalism

" The most important part of good journalism is telling the whole and complete truth." I couldn't agree more with the statement made in Cassidy Adwell's "What is Good Journalism" blog post         cassidyadwell.blogspot.com. The truth is the foundation of journalism, we can't begin to critique journalism if its not in fact journalism.

Truth should be a deal breaker when it comes to journalism, if a story does not tell the truth then its not journalism. It is understood that on occasion journalists make mistakes, and the stories they release are not accurate, however that is different from intentionally leaving out a fact or just straight up lying. Cassidy made a point similar to this when she said "Also, a journalist cannot only cover some of the truth and then lie a little bit to make it more interesting, they need to include the WHOLE truth." A journalists number one duty is to report the truth to the public, how can the public trust the media if journalists are leaving out some of the facts to support their side or add curb appeal?

While I agree with Cassidy that the most important part of good journalism is telling the truth, I do not fully agree with her concluding statement, " All in all, good journalism can really depend on what you think." There are certain standards that journalism should be held to, some aspects  may be subject to opinion, however I do not believe that good journalism can be determined by what just anyone thinks. The yardsticks and elements of good journalism were created with the sole purpose defining what good journalism is, the entirety of the public is not completely aware of these standards. The public may have opinions on what they prefer in journalism, but unless one knows of the standards set in the journalistic community they cannot make an educated decision on whether or not something is good journalism. For example an article that describes the latest dramas in the lives of the Kardashians, might be considered entertaining and even good journalism by a teenage girl who has no knowledge of the elements or yardsticks. When in reality the article lacks relevance, news worthiness, and most likely belongs on buzzfeed. Good journalism should be determined by the standards that have been set, not an opinion.




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