Most people in the world today are skeptical about journalism. And why should they not be? After all, journalists have a bad reputation for shoving their way into places they aren't wanted, asking too many questions, and releasing secrets to public scrutiny. What's more, a recent survey shows that journalists have dropped the most in public esteem in the last four years.
To me, that's a shame because journalism takes a lot of guts.
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In my Principles of Journalism course, we talked about the "Six C's" of what journalism should be -- Constitutional, Constructive, Community-oriented, Credible, Conscience-guided, & Courageous. It's the last of these that I'd like to focus on.
Is journalism courageous? I think it often is. I look at examples like Chauncey Bailey, who was gunned down in broad daylight while investigating a bakery's finances and Bill Biggart, killed when the North Tower collapsed as he photographed the rescue efforts of September 11th. These journalists displayed incredible courage and made the ultimate sacrifice for the story they were trying to tell.
There are many other stories that portray fearless journalism and of course, bravery in this profession comes in many different forms. In my opinion, the crowning characteristic of courageous journalism is honesty. That's what truly separates a brave reporter from the rest. And as skeptical as the world may be about the press today, any journalist who has enough character to tell the truth, has earned the title of hero.
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