(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
Virtual Lecture from Professor McCaffrey: April 21, 2020
Looking for some good news? Sometimes reporters are asked by sources if the story that they are working on is going to be a positive or negative one. A polite answer might be that journalists don’t try to write good or bad stories, just fair and accurate ones.
By now, I hope you know what I mean by that. If we look at the Society of Professional Journalists’ ethics code, we are just trying to balance the mandate to “Seek Truth and Report It” with the need to “Minimize Harm.” Sometimes we can’t control whether the story is seen as good or bad; but we can work our best to make sure it is fair and accurate.
That is not to say that news outlets should not be conscious of producing a diverse mix of stories, especially while covering a serious and tragic global pandemic. You recently might have come across stories that have been inspiring: tales of people stepping forward to help others in large and small ways. Other stories might seem trivial by comparison, but they serve an important purpose as well: primers on how to make a protective mask or cut your own hair or decorate your home office before a video conference call. Some might view these stories as “good news,” though media outlets generally view them as part of a balanced report. (It’s why newspapers traditionally have sections devoted to subjects such as sports and entertainment.)
That said, the pandemic has brought with it a more conscious attempt to provide people with news that has been advertised as being explicitly “good.”
Take a look at this New York Times story about this trend.
Some mainstream news outlets have joined this effort. Are there ethical concerns about producing this kind of news? The Poynter Institute weighs in on the ramifications of this phenomenon.
What do you think about this trend? It’s the topic of today’s poll.