By Roy Peter Clark
The Poynter Institute
(excerpted)
I recently discovered in an old journalism textbook a list of 11 suggestions to young journalists on how they might live upright, professional lives. The list amazed me. I could not recall any similar list where journalism values were expressed so well, so succinctly and with such enduring relevance. The list appears as the last words in the book Newspaper Writing and Editing, written by Willard G. Bleyer, perhaps the outstanding journalism educator of his day, and published in 1913. Here then, for all to share, are, not the Ten Commandments, but the Eleven Suggestions:
1. Remember that whatever you write is read by thousands.
2. Don’t forget that your story or headline helps to influence public opinion.
3. Realize that every mistake you make hurts someone.
4. Don’t embroider facts with fancy; “Truth is stranger than fiction.”
5. Don’t try to make cleverness a substitute for truth.
6. Remember that faking is lying.
7. Refer all requests to “keep it out of the paper” to those higher in authority.
8. Stand firmly for what your conscience tells you is right.
9. Sacrifice your position, if need be, rather than your principles.
10. See the bright side of life: don’t be pessimistic or cynical.
11. Seek to know the truth and endeavor to make the truth prevail.
. . .
If you distill from the list its dominant themes, they reveal most of journalism’s key concerns: Not writing and reporting to please yourself or advance your career, but with a keen sense of service to an audience. An understanding that the audience turns to you for information that will enrich them as citizens in the process of self-government. That accuracy is a practical virtue and that the failure to achieve it can have negative consequences. Truth seeking and truth telling are at the heart of the discipline. Your ultimate loyalty cannot be either to special interests or even to your employer. It must be to the public interest. Cynicism corrodes the soul of the journalist and erodes the trust of the public in institutions that sustain civic life.
. . .
I could argue that the list is necessary but not sufficient to fulfill the journalistic mission in the 21st century. I might be tempted, immodestly, to add a couple more points in the spirit of transparency and diversity.
12. As much as you can, be transparent in your methods, revealing what you know, how you know it, and what you still need to learn.
13. Remember the limitations of your own experience and point of view. Gather the perspectives of others, especially those too often excluded from public life. (OK, 13 is unlucky. Let’s add two more.)
14. Be aware of the dangers of false balance in news coverage. Strive for proportionality, submitting key claims to the discipline of fact-checking.
15. Understand that while a particular story may be true and useful — coverage of a crime — the cumulative effect of such repeated coverage may give a distorted view of the world we live in.
There you have them, the Eleven Suggestions, or the Fifteen Suggestions, or add a few of your own.
The Poynter Institute
(excerpted)
I recently discovered in an old journalism textbook a list of 11 suggestions to young journalists on how they might live upright, professional lives. The list amazed me. I could not recall any similar list where journalism values were expressed so well, so succinctly and with such enduring relevance. The list appears as the last words in the book Newspaper Writing and Editing, written by Willard G. Bleyer, perhaps the outstanding journalism educator of his day, and published in 1913. Here then, for all to share, are, not the Ten Commandments, but the Eleven Suggestions:
1. Remember that whatever you write is read by thousands.
2. Don’t forget that your story or headline helps to influence public opinion.
3. Realize that every mistake you make hurts someone.
4. Don’t embroider facts with fancy; “Truth is stranger than fiction.”
5. Don’t try to make cleverness a substitute for truth.
6. Remember that faking is lying.
7. Refer all requests to “keep it out of the paper” to those higher in authority.
8. Stand firmly for what your conscience tells you is right.
9. Sacrifice your position, if need be, rather than your principles.
10. See the bright side of life: don’t be pessimistic or cynical.
11. Seek to know the truth and endeavor to make the truth prevail.
. . .
If you distill from the list its dominant themes, they reveal most of journalism’s key concerns: Not writing and reporting to please yourself or advance your career, but with a keen sense of service to an audience. An understanding that the audience turns to you for information that will enrich them as citizens in the process of self-government. That accuracy is a practical virtue and that the failure to achieve it can have negative consequences. Truth seeking and truth telling are at the heart of the discipline. Your ultimate loyalty cannot be either to special interests or even to your employer. It must be to the public interest. Cynicism corrodes the soul of the journalist and erodes the trust of the public in institutions that sustain civic life.
. . .
I could argue that the list is necessary but not sufficient to fulfill the journalistic mission in the 21st century. I might be tempted, immodestly, to add a couple more points in the spirit of transparency and diversity.
12. As much as you can, be transparent in your methods, revealing what you know, how you know it, and what you still need to learn.
13. Remember the limitations of your own experience and point of view. Gather the perspectives of others, especially those too often excluded from public life. (OK, 13 is unlucky. Let’s add two more.)
14. Be aware of the dangers of false balance in news coverage. Strive for proportionality, submitting key claims to the discipline of fact-checking.
15. Understand that while a particular story may be true and useful — coverage of a crime — the cumulative effect of such repeated coverage may give a distorted view of the world we live in.
There you have them, the Eleven Suggestions, or the Fifteen Suggestions, or add a few of your own.
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