"IF YOU HAVE TEARS, PREPARE TO SHED THEM NOW" - UNLESS YOU'RE A JOURNALIST??
A recent debate erupted about the role of emotion in journalism after Channel 4's Jon Snow made an emotional plea on a news bulletin for the people of Gaza (I will talk about Gaza another time. That's a whole other blog) To me this was an incredibly brave thing to do, but others disagreed. They saw his emotional appeal as propaganda. and said it wasn't exactly helping the situation.
This however is not my point. My question is: Can journalism and emotion live in tandem with each other?
Some would say no A journalist has to be unbiased and professional and keep his emotions in check. But they forget two things. Firstly: being unbiased doesn't make you unfeeling, and if you show your emotion and compassion it doesn't mean you are using it as propaganda for anyone in particular.
To think like that is just ridiculous. Journalists are people, not robots. They are human beings like everyone else with the same emotions. As long as they can keep their composure on camera - something Kate Adie was a master of - then that to me is enough. If, when they are actually in the field finding their story, they are moved by the situation around them then it shouldn't be a problem.
I would rather see an emotional report from someone who obviously cares and is speaking from their heart about things that are happening than a reporter who cares only about the story and not about the people involved.
Do I think what Jon Snow did was wrong? Absolutely not. He was just showing that journalists have compassion; something he should not be ashamed of. Reporters are compassionate, brave people. They risk their lives to bring us news. We would do well to remember that, and not to be so harsh in our judgement of an emotional journalist.
Compassion in journalism is not a crime.
Bill Neely showing that compassion and journalism do go together:
And secondly how dare these people criticise those out in the field while they are stuck in an office/studio etc with no clear idea of what is going on. Seeing a report is one thing. Being in the situation as the on-scene reporter is something else entirely. The reporters out there, especially in war torn places, like Gaza, Syria, Libya and Iraq and in places where there have being disasters, such as earthquake zones, see some tragic and appalling scenes and hear some heartbreaking stories from victims and people who are there to help. And the journalists are supposed to not care?
To think like that is just ridiculous. Journalists are people, not robots. They are human beings like everyone else with the same emotions. As long as they can keep their composure on camera - something Kate Adie was a master of - then that to me is enough. If, when they are actually in the field finding their story, they are moved by the situation around them then it shouldn't be a problem.
I would rather see an emotional report from someone who obviously cares and is speaking from their heart about things that are happening than a reporter who cares only about the story and not about the people involved.
Do I think what Jon Snow did was wrong? Absolutely not. He was just showing that journalists have compassion; something he should not be ashamed of. Reporters are compassionate, brave people. They risk their lives to bring us news. We would do well to remember that, and not to be so harsh in our judgement of an emotional journalist.
Compassion in journalism is not a crime.
Bill Neely showing that compassion and journalism do go together:
No comments:
Post a Comment