What journalism means to me

I have always loved a good story. As a child, I was drawn to fiction, loving how it could take me to a world different than my own. But as I got older, I found myself drawn more and more to true stories, the stories that journalists tell. It has been a few years now, and I have gotten more out of journalism than I could ever have predicted when I began.While many of my peers were studying topics that they may be able to apply to real life, I was studying a craft, practicing weekly what I would do for the rest of my life. I have been given innumerable opportunities, traveling to conferences across the country with my student newspaper, learning more than I could have possibly imagined. But I have also lost some faith in the institution that I hope to be a part of someday. It is easy to become cynical about the field.After all, as a journalist, you are constantly critiqued on your work. Unlike other college majors, who submit papers to professors and are making mistakes in private, journalism students who make mistakes make them very publicly. These mistakes are picked apart by members of the public, and it can sometimes feel that there is no pride in being a journalist. I attended the annual College Media Association’s Spring National College Media Convention in New York City.The keynote speaker was Scott Pelley, of CBS News and “60 Minutes.” Pelley had a message for the audience filled with aspiring young journalists: Take pride in your work and do it right. Pelley described how a great number of news websites don’t check their facts. He said that the editors of these websites say that it is more important to get out the information first and check for accuracy later. “That’s not journalism, that’s called gossip,” Pelley said. “Journalism was invented as an antidote to gossip.” He pleaded with members of the audience. “If you’re interested in that other model, where the news is coming so fast and there are so many competitors that you have to push it out there without checking the facts, go back and change your major, please,” Pelley said. Pelley asked the young journalists in the room to ask themselves a few questions every time they wrote story. “Is it right? Is it fair? Is it honest? Have I checked all of the facts that I can before I publish this thing?” Pelley said. Pelley emphasized the importance of an accurate, well-functioning media. “The quality of life in our country is tightly and directly linked to the quality of the journalism,” Pelley said. The entire room wanted this to be true, and perhaps it is. Following the Boston Marathon bombings last year, the reputation and the credibility of the media fell when it reported irresponsibly. The New York Post put a picture on the front page, showing two young men who were not the suspects. These young men became the targets of vigilantes and the New York Post put a blotch on the reputation of media. But many know that the New York Post is not a reliable news source. But when CNN reported that the suspect was in custody, that destroyed the confidence of the public in their media. If one of the largest news organizations in the world gets it wrong, who can the public trust? I believe that we can rebuild that trust, but only if the media steps up its game. In this world of lightning-fast news, we must ignore the pressure to be first and instead focus on being accurate. Instead of just reporting what people say, we need to make sure they speak the truth. The quality of journalism declines as speed increases. If the new generation of journalists can reverse this trend, perhaps the public will restore a bit of its faith in the media. Winsted resident Acadia Otlowski is a student at Central Connecticut State University and is an editor of the college’s newspaper, The Recorder. She is also a correspondent for The Winsted Journal.