January 04, 2004
Misrepresentation Is Not An Element Of Journalism
There's nothing wrong with trying to find a local angle to a larger story. Often, it's an important way to help describe the issue at hand to one's readers, because it provides them with a familiar vantagepoint from which to view the wider world.
In fact, in today's Sunday Oregonian, Michael Arrieta-Walden (the paper's Public Editor) includes in his list of ten lessons the fact that readers "hunger for more news of the world in The Oregonian and how it influences the Pacific Northwest."
But finding a local hook only works, only is useful, if used with discretion and skill -- two elements missing from an article on regulating Internet access, written by Jeffrey Kosseff and appearing in today's Business section.
Overly-fascinated by the existence of two Michael Powells -- one in Washington DC and chair of the Federal Communications Commission, the other in Portland and owner of Powell's City of Books -- Kosseff seems to believe that the former's role in telecommunications policy and the fact that the latter's business happens to operate a website provides a useful local hook into the story.
"THE FATES OF TWO MICHAEL POWELLS," the sub-headline proclaims assuredly, "FRAME THE REGULATORY BATTLE OVER INTERNET ACCESS."
Well, in fact, not really. And Kosseff's article itself betrays both the premise and expectation of that proclamation.
Most of the article in fact addresses the FCC debate over regulating Internet access, past Portland attempts to force cable providers to abide by "open access" rules (itself, right there, a local angle), and the health of independent Internet service providers in the current climate.
Further undercutting his own hook, Kosseff closes with a remark from the Portland Powell (who, according to an earlier part of the article, "hasn't closely followed the debate") which in and of itself demonstrates his irrelevance to the story Kosseff reports:
... Powell admits he has other things on his mind than the regulatory debate in Washington.
"There's probably a lot of things I should worry about," he said. "This may well be one of them. But no one's come to me and said we have to start worrying."
So why is this particular local Powell in the article at all? Because someone thought being cute and clever would somehow serve to advance an understanding of the issues involved. Or, perhaps (and even more cynically), someone believed that without being cute and clever, no one would be interested in reading the story at all.
The problem here is that by dangling the "fate of two Michael Powells" before its readers when that curiosity is not in reality relevant to the story at hand, The Oregonian in essence engages in the deceptive practice of misrepresenting the story it intends to report.
And, of course, misrepresentation is not meant to be known as part of the journalist's skill set. Ideally, this would go without saying.
Understanding that reporters are not necessarily responsible for the headlines which appear above their work, it is important to recognize that Kosseff's lead is, in fact, the curiosity of the two Michael Powells. So blaming this entirely on those who wrote the headline (and sub-headline) for the article as it appeared in print isn't an option -- although that party (whoever they may be) clearly played a role in the misrepresentation.
Perhaps (to bring this back around) Michael Arrieta-Walden ought to add "never misrepresent" to his list of lessons his newspaper should learn for the new year -- if for no other reason than his column's previous coverage of misrepresentative headlines.
But deeper still than that, perhaps The Oregonian ought to insist that it's reporters not overreach for a local hook, if having such an angle requires that they artificially force one into place. And they certainly should not do so when, as in this case, a more natural local hook (past Portland attempts to force cable providers to abide by "open access" rules) already exists.
Comments (3)
The One True b!X on 04 Jan 2004
For what it's worth, part of the headline here is taken from the title of the excellent book, The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect, by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel.
The One True b!X on 04 Jan 2004
Parenthetically, and most perplexingly, if someone out there knows what the Hell became of my copy of that book, please let me know.
Sarah Iannarone on 13 Jan 2004
I recall reading the article and wondering, "What the F- does Portland's Michael Powell have to do with any of this?" But considering that the Oregonian ran a sizable story by film critic Shawn Levy about a director who shares his name, I now see the many possibilities for news here. I'm thinking of submitting an article lamenting that the director Shawn Levy shares a name not only with the film critic Levy, but the Professor at SMSU that taught me Intro to Film Studies back in 1994! Now that's news!