In journalism, the ends do not justify the means

In professional news reporting, the ends do not justify the means, because news publications must be accountable to their audience 100 percent of the time and the public must be able to trust news reporters to always tell the truth and, when possible, provide both sides of controversial stories.

Objective news reporting means providing the facts the best that you know them so readers can make up their own minds about what to believe. News reporting has never been about trying to persuade readers about what to believe or how to feel about anything.

News reporting that is slanted to show favoritism for one outcome over another is called public relations and/or advertising and does not follow the well-established standards of American journalism.

Sadly, regarding national and international news, public relations/advertising is what is being spoon fed to readers/viewers more and more these days as TV networks, urban papers and others routinely pay for provided content.

Here’s a couple of recent examples of public relations/advertising being passed off as real news to the public:

*NBC network TV news reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s recent comment that he sent a plane to Israel to save more than 100 Floridians stuck there in the fighting versus Hamas was only “half-true.’’ 

Asked to explain later what that meant, an NBC spokesperson said DeSantis’s statement was only half-true because he did not actually fly the plane to Israel and back.

*NBC network TV news reported as fact that Hamas is not using Gaza Strip hospitals and Palestinian people as human shields because a doctor at a hospital there said Hamas was not doing that and he had not seen any Hamas fighters or guns in the hospital. Did anyone at NBC even consider/suspect that the doctor may have been ordered and/or threatened to say that by Hamas leaders/captors?

We also read and hear a lot of slanted stories when it comes to politics. Some people in the journalism business believe they are justified regardless of how they go about achieving their desired end results. They openly state these days that they believe deception is only justified when carried out by thoughtful, responsible journalists (like themselves) after much consideration of possible methods and their consequences.

The most dangerous people in journalism (and other fields) are always the ones who believe they know better than anyone else..

The Associated Press (AP) used to be the most trusted news gathering organization in the world. These days, even the great AP writers can be found slanting their news reports to favor their targeted audience and the targeted urban daily papers most likely to want to purchase their news reports.

American readers/viewers are becoming more aware of the PR reports that are being called “objective news.’’

Recent media trust surveys conducted by the National Newspaper Association and Poynter Media both showed 73 percent of respondents had “a great deal’’ of trust in their local newspapers while only 55 percent of respondents said they had “some trust’’ in national news reported on national network TV stations, radio and national papers.    David Powls      In professional news reporting, the ends do not justify the means, because news publications must be accountable to their audience 100 percent of the time and the public must be able to trust news reporters to always tell the truth and, when possible, provide both sides of controversial stories.

Objective news reporting means providing the facts the best that you know them so readers can make up their own minds about what to believe. News reporting has never been about trying to persuade readers about what to believe or how to feel about anything.

News reporting that is slanted to show favoritism for one outcome over another is called public relations and/or advertising and does not follow the well-established standards of American journalism.

Sadly, regarding national and international news, public relations/advertising is what is being spoon fed to readers/viewers more and more these days as TV networks, urban papers and others routinely pay for provided content.

Here’s a couple of recent examples of public relations/advertising being passed off as real news to the public:

*NBC network TV news reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s recent comment that he sent a plane to Israel to save more than 100 Floridians stuck there in the fighting versus Hamas was only “half-true.’’ 

Asked to explain later what that meant, an NBC spokesperson said DeSantis’s statement was only half-true because he did not actually fly the plane to Israel and back.

*NBC network TV news reported as fact that Hamas is not using Gaza Strip hospitals and Palestinian people as human shields because a doctor at a hospital there said Hamas was not doing that and he had not seen any Hamas fighters or guns in the hospital. Did anyone at NBC even consider/suspect that the doctor may have been ordered and/or threatened to say that by Hamas leaders/captors?

We also read and hear a lot of slanted stories when it comes to politics. Some people in the journalism business believe they are justified regardless of how they go about achieving their desired end results. They openly state these days that they believe deception is only justified when carried out by thoughtful, responsible journalists (like themselves) after much consideration of possible methods and their consequences.

The most dangerous people in journalism (and other fields) are always the ones who believe they know better than anyone else..

The Associated Press (AP) used to be the most trusted news gathering organization in the world. These days, even the great AP writers can be found slanting their news reports to favor their targeted audience and the targeted urban daily papers most likely to want to purchase their news reports.

American readers/viewers are becoming more aware of the PR reports that are being called “objective news.’’

Recent media trust surveys conducted by the National Newspaper Association and Poynter Media both showed 73 percent of respondents had “a great deal’’ of trust in their local newspapers while only 55 percent of respondents said they had “some trust’’ in national news reported on national network TV stations, radio and national papers.