Published in NRC Handelsblad
August 20, 2013.
‘Everyone journalist’, that was the telling title of the three-part
documentary about the crisis in journalism, shown on Dutch public broadcasting
past summer. In the many discussions on the future of journalism that is a
recurring theme. Journalists have lost their monopoly on news, because nowadays
anyone with a smart phone can easily capture news and share it online
immediately. Anyone can do it, so the argument goes; no special qualifications
or skills are needed to be a journalist. Breaking news is faster on Twitter
than in the ‘old’ media. Moreover, citizens are not prepared anymore to obediently
wait for the media to tell them what the news of the day is. They actively
search the web, create their own news menu, add comments and share it online.
News is everywhere and it is free. The people of the old media are still
daydreaming about their glorious past instead of investing in innovations such
as projects with ‘twitterati’, bloggers or ‘citizen journalists’. The old
school reporters have no idea that their professional fort is about to
collapse. That was the message of the documentary, which was completely in line
with the present dominant discourse about the future of journalism.
The problem is that it is mainly based on caricatures of both the news
and the profession of the journalist, resulting in underestimating the
significance that professionals have for independent and reliable news. There
is a crisis in the media indeed: the Internet systematically undermined the
classical commercial model of the media with subscribers and advertisers. But a
problem with the business model is something else than an alleged crisis in professional
journalism and the important values it represents.
At the center of many ‘innovative’ proposals is the idea that the
autonomy of the professional can be sacrificed to a sort of cooperation with
communities online. News selection should no longer be determined by
professional criteria, but by the algorithms ruling the flows of information on
the Internet. Even ‘branded journalism’ –writing articles commissioned and paid
for by companies- is presented as an ‘interesting’ innovation.
All these ‘innovations’ are contrary to the mission of professional
journalism: to gather and distribute reliable and independent news on current
affairs that are relevant to society. This type of news is produced by using a professional
and replicable method, meeting the criteria of verifiable facts and
identifiable sources. Moreover, professionals are accountable for their
publications, both to colleagues and to the public. The existence of a
professional culture in journalism is not only a guaranty for a certain level
of quality; it also protects journalism from commercial or political pressures.
And also from audiences, because there are no citizens without interests.
Indeed, anyone can publish on the Internet, but with this has little to
do with journalism without a professional method and without accountability.
Professional news is not up for grabs, it requires effort, research, reporting,
interviews, consulting sources, analyze data, checking facts and providing context.
That kind of news costs money and it constitutes a threat to independent news
in society when the old business model collapses.
In the future new commercial model will certainly be developed, so
people will somehow pay for this news, but it would be extremely unwise in this
transition phase to give up on professional journalism as a relic of the past. It’s
not about the survival of newspapers or news channels; it is about the survival
of the values of professional journalism - in any digital form whatsoever. This
journalism requires a strong professional culture, a structured self-regulation
and good journalism schools. Because no, not everyone is a journalist.
Marc Josten is chief editor of ARGOS TV (HUMAN / VPRO).
Dr. Peter Vasterman is assistant professor in Media and Journalism at
the University of Amsterdam.
This is an abridged version of their opening lecture for the new
students of the Master’s in Journalism at the University of Amsterdam on August
26, 2013.
