What makes a good journalist?
Above all else, a good journalist is ambitious and curious. Ambitious because the news does not happen at a predictable pace and the he needs to be ready to go out and get the story whenever and wherever it happens. There may be an assignment where the reporter needs to work well past the normal working hours and he needs to be willing and eager to go out and get the story. For example, a sporting event will take the aspiring journalist out on a weekend or for an evening adventure. Even though a newsworthy event may have occurred during the night, or even on the weekend, the normal working hours still need to be adhered to. Working late is no excuse for not getting the writing done.
An aspiring journalist must be curious and observant. Whenever something of note happens, she must constantly be asking “What is it, who is doing it, why are they doing it, why is it important and how does it affect things?” It is the basic who, what, where, when, why and how that needs to be answered. So let’s start with the “Who.” Who is involved, who is effected, who are the principals, who is the victim or who is the perpetrator. What. What happened, was something broken what was it, what was the affect of the event, what caused it. Where. Where did it happen? When. When did it happen? Finally, How. How did the event occur, how will it change things, how has it effected those involved?
Research research research
What makes a good reporter, the ability to do fast and thorough research. Having said that, when a story is breaking a good journalist needs to be able to report the facts quickly and accurately. Alternatively, when given an assignment, say to report on a speech, she will need to do some research on the topic and speaker. She may even request a copy of the speech before hand so that much of the report can be written before hand. All the while bearing in mind that the speaker may modify his statements.
Elizabeth G. Cook, at the Salisbury Post, reported on Walter Cronkite’s words at an editors Conference in 2001. In her article, Cronkite still knows what makes a good journalist, Mr. Cronkite is quoted as saying, “...what makes a good journalist (ethics, principal) and what does not (good hair).” I imagine there was a bit of a laugh there, considering who was doing the talking. These are attributes we have already discussed, but when disseminating information as an impartial reporter, we need to reek of these principals. If we are to create a trusting relationship with our readers, or viewers, or if we are in some kind of broadcast media, we must be consistent in our reporting and we must be fair.
Mr. Cronkite also said the there are (I’m paraphrasing here) three fundamentals of good news reporting: “Get it right; be fair and honest.” to put just a little more weight on his statement, Mr. Cronkite concluded with...if we do this “Democracy is fairly safe.” when I first read the last, I snorted a little thinking Mr. Cronkite was exaggerating, but then it occurred to me that his statement was more profound than bombastic. Yes, our government does have its checks and balances, and yes for the most part our elected governmental representatives are honest people but the openness the a free press brings forth is essential to keeping Democracy functioning.
