Journalists, PR and Standards

Posted on May 16, 2006
Filed Under For Argument's Sake |

I’ve been following the debate in the UK about journalistic standards, blogging and PR. It has been enlivened by two events. The We Media Conference - it took a hammering from Suw Charman on her Strange Attractor blog, and the debate between John Lloyd, FT Magazine editor, and others on the relationship between PR and journalism, that’s been taking place on Comment is Free.

This comment comes from Jackie Danicki, and takes up some of the points after a public debate at the London School of Economics.

“What I found somewhat disturbing about Lloyd’s comments later in the panel was his contention that traditional journalism is something of a civic service, and one that we should be very careful to preserve. This sentiment smacks of the current, hysterical cries coming from old media types who are far less aware than John Lloyd - the idea that journalists are the guardians of truth and that, to some extent, we should take a kid glove approach to this most holy of disciplines.”

Lloyd in his Comment is Free blog on the other hand contends that journalists need a forum for discussing issues with PR Agencies - he was supporting Julia Hobsbawm, a leading London PR agent, whose company Editorial Intelligence did what Lloyd says is necessary, brought journalists and PR agents together underone corporate umbrella.

Underlying this debate is are the twin assumptions that trained journalists always know when their integrity is about to be compromised and will therefore not let it happen.

Here’s my stance on this. I’ve worked in industry as well as journalism and in both I’ve found my integrity compromised more easily than I had hoped it would be. Temptation to be first to a story, or to claim credit or to make money plague us, whoever we are. On the other hand if those moments are part of a public discussion I imagine they are harder to give in to so I believe blogging, citizen journalism, citizen media, call it what you want are rational enterprises to engage in as a journalist but also as a citizen.

I don’t think I or any journalist is capable of pristine objectivity and it’s morally dubious to claim that I, more than others, can rise above temptation and self-interest. I can’t, you can’t, we can’t. Citizen media, and IP TV, which I hope will have a still greater impact than blogging, are necessary.

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