Palm Beach Florida Weekly

Good journalism is more important than ever

GUEST COMMENTARY


BUCKWALTER

BUCKWALTER

As people increasingly get information from the internet, the need for journalists ironically has grown — and they have an additional role.

A plethora of online communication provides more news more quickly than ever was possible before. But it also exposes us to more cleverly disguised propaganda, conspiracy nonsense and outright lies.

The negative impacts are amplified by companies’ profit-seeking algorithms, which encourage and perpetuate the targeted proselytizing. A perceptive article in “Foreign Affairs” magazine warned that “new technologies facilitate disinformation and worsen existing biases.”

Those who seek information about a political group or cause without necessarily supporting it may be deluged with partisan promotions and links to more. Research on a subject can bring an avalanche of related ads. Investigating lies can unleash a storm of similar lies, posing as news.

Whether to regulate social media speech is a difficult issue. But unless that’s somehow resolved or dangerous speech is impartially assessed and exposed, more people surely will be drawn into the illusionary swamp, even as others are undeceived.

This presents a challenge unlike the one in prior ages when information, true or not, was scarce. Too little information can be crippling. But too much, especially when it isn’t impartially evaluated, can be confusing.

How do we separate reality from falsehood, as posted by political extremists? How do we distinguish rational skepticism from total fabrications, as hatched by the likes of Alex Jones? How do we differentiate between passionate but constructive arguments and manipulative bigotry as pushed, for example, by white supremacists?

Free speech invariably includes radical views and cynical deceit. But citizens who want to be responsible need a stable, reliable base for judging what comes before them.

In this intensifying environment, good journalism is crucial. Mainstream journalism — which eschews an ideological or partisan agenda in its news stories (i.e., not Fox “News”) — can be a neutral, honest source of information amid the online clutter.

That gives conscientious journalists two critical jobs: to objectively communicate truth while debunking digital duplicity — which is routine work, and to convince people that their output is credible — which in today’s polarization is much harder. But those duties, to be a trustworthy guide through the cyber thicket and to sort facts from fiction, are essential.

Journalists are still discerning their place in our new world of information, as they had to do with the rise of radio and TV. We know that to be effective, we must heavily use all the modern platforms, which are widely consumed. And we also should know that journalism’s highest standards — independent, unbiased reporting and principled commentary that’s undictated by others — remain our touchstone.

Based on 50 years in newspapers as a reporter, editor and columnist and five years as a TV interviewer, I want traditional media to survive in this mix.

But all of us in the field must appreciate that to survive, the old media is changing. That includes fewer newspapers and many more TV channels and social media outlets. This reorientation is challenging yet inevitable. As fresh modes evolve, journalism also is evolving — to thrive and stay relevant. ¦

— Roger Buckwalter is a retired editorial page editor of The Jupiter Courier.

One response to “Good journalism is more important than ever”

  1. Mark Benson says:

    Mr. Buckwalter probably still thinks Walter Cronkite was a fair and balanced reporter. Time has shown he was not. He probably believes New York Times reporting on the fate of Jews in WWII was accurate. We now know it was not. He probably believes the 1619 project, as widely reported in many if not most legacy media, is credible. It is certainly not. Its a shame that a lifetime in journalism has failed to introduce Mr. Buckwalter to critical thinking. He chooses to follow the herd. Admittedly that path is easier and today followed by most who call themselves journalists. Very sad.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *