I recently picked up a foundational textbook on journalism after an organisation requested a masterclass on journalistic storytelling. The task of preparing the curriculum for the same gave me an opportunity to go back to the basics.
It is funny but I realised how often journalists or other professionals forget why we do what we do. Or what is the definition, in my case, of journalism?
I admit, after a decade of reporting on and writing stories, I needed a refresher. And I found it in a short book called The Elements of Journalism, which breaks down all my mildly complex thoughts and experiences in an insanely vast and complex world into 10 elements.
The first of those elements has been etched in my memory since I read it earlier this month. It is one of those simple but profound statements that often come out of the mouths of mentor figures in Disney movies or Yoda himself and clarify everything.
Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
It is the first principle in the book. “All truths—even the laws of science—are subject to revision, but we operate by them in the meantime because they are necessary and they work,” write Kovach and Rosenstiel. Journalism, they continue, thus seeks “a practical and functional form of truth".
The stories we wrote this week are wonderful examples of how, as journalists, we tell stories that appear practical and functional but they are, in their heart, about truth.
It is not always fun, and it is certainly not easy to try to find the truth within and outside of ourselves, stick our necks out and speak it by wrapping it in disclaimers, context, and its shiny but limited merits. There is always a lot to learn and more to unlearn, about ourselves and our audiences. It is what we as journalists and storytellers do.
Have a peaceful Sunday.
