Maheylah Colie: What is Journalism?
I was introduced to journalism by heart racing and blood-pumping excitement, fueled by determination and ambition to get a good story. My teachers were derived from fictional movies and comics like Lois Lane and April O’Neil, who were reflections of journalism.
Fast forward a few years, you can find me sitting on the floor, head tilted to the television, consuming channels like Fox News and CNN. With heated debates and unmoving ideologies, I found arrogance within these people on the screen who covered the same story but supported with completely different details.
So, this is what journalism is, I thought. The problem now was who to believe. A young woman or man may find themselves at a crossroads, just as I did, wondering where their morals fit with these fiery influencers. Rather than morphing our morals to align with the limited options presented as “journalism,” we should strip journalism to its abstract form and consider its definition.
In the Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiel, they state, “Journalism provides something unique to a culture: independent, reliable, accurate, and comprehensive information that citizens require to be free.”(Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiel 3).
Does this idea reflect the media presented to us as news we consume today? While I used to think journalism was a reporter-against-the-world risking her life to get the full story to angry commentators spewing their beliefs to be facts, I have found journalism to be the opposite. It is not about morals; it is about facts.
Given my opportunity to be an intern at Neuse News, I have discovered that journalism and reporting are a collaborative effort that strives to produce content framed to give the facts despite personal beliefs.
When working on my first story, I struggled with news writing and what made a story newsworthy. Kristy Bock, the assistant publisher at Neuse News, guided me through this process by asking me one question that has followed me through my writing journey: “Will this information benefit the community?”
Recently, the founder of Neuse News, BJ Murphy, sat us interns down and told us about his time as an intern and his experience with job interviews. He said the mistake he made when applying for jobs was that he only talked about himself, not what he could offer to the team. “It’s all about working as a team. The people who have made it to the top weren’t able to achieve their goals without the help of others.”
My experience at Neuse News has taught me that true journalism does not produce stories layered with personal beliefs to influence others, nor is it a single person researching and writing. Journalists have a mission which is to work together to devote their loyalty to the people.
