Finding a Problem at Its Source

Topic for the day: "Maverick, independent values: Stickin' it to the Man"

I really didn't think I would make it past the first graf of Glenn Greenwald's June 2008 Salon piece, Longtime reporter: "Bloggers have taught me a lesson" about dependency on sources. For some reason, he decided to change the tense of a quote of subject Dwight Jaynes, inserting a number of unnecessary brackets that muddled the typography. The original read:

...it’s led me to alter my approach to the way I do my job as a columnist, pushing me away from a philosophy I held dear for decades in this business. I changed, though, because the bloggers have taught me a lesson.

Greenwald changed it to read:

...led [him] to alter [his] approach to the way [he] do[es] [his] job as a columnist, pushing [him] away from a philosophy [he] held dear for decades in this business.

Perhaps I've lost you already with a quirk of my own. But I actually can relate to Jaynes, who found his writing was not-so impartial as a beat reporter for the Trail Blazers. He found access, but said:

Over time, you realize that in spite of all your attempts to know athletes and public figures, what you usually end up writing about them is the cover story – the half-true piece of semifiction that those people want the public to see. You begin to realize you’re usually getting played. And you sold your soul to get it.

It's a delicate balance between reporting the news and reporting what essentially amounts to PR. Well, actually, there should be no balance. It should be all news. But if Jaynes wanted to ever talk to these people, his articles would have to be notably positive.

New York Times reporter Rick Lyman faced a similar problem in his venue of political reporting, denied access on Dick Cheney's jet (even with open seats the paper payed for). People speculate it had something to do with the nature of the publication. How close did he get? Not very. It just shows that the strength of certain stories is dependant on access.

I faced something similar this summer interning in the media department of USRowing. My position was clearly PR, but I was assigned some articles that could really walk the line. I was told to write an article on the Detroit Boat Club, the nation's oldest boating club. The story was supposed to be about how the place was once great, then fell into disrepair, and now a band of rowers is attempting to fix it up. Simple PR line.

But as I conducted interviews, I began to uncover an undercurrent of racism. Rowing is a sport dominated by whites and throughout history has been a sport for the richer classes. I began to wonder about the state of rowing in Detroit, a city whose population is 81.6 percent black.

The Detroit Boat Club sits on Belle Isle, a stone's throw from Grosse Point, home to the white wealthy auto executives and their families. The suburb is 97.2 percent white and the median income is $81,111, as opposed to $29,526 for the city.

In interviews, I found that any "diversity" was mere tokenism, and a couple members seemed to be fearful of the Arab population. But I had to put the place in the most positive light in order to satisfy my boss, the organization, and rowers who wished to see the sport was making "progress" with women and minorities (actual progress has been made with the former, thanks largely to Title IX, which allows member-heavy women's crew to compensate for football in the NCAA).

But the reason these people were talking to me so candidly, I suspect, is because they trusted me to tell a positive story (or they were unaware of their racism). If a random blogger began asking some of these questions, I doubt they would be answered. I had access. But I also had a check on me.

This is a problem in the blogosphere. If I have an opinion contrary to yours and no press credentials save my own website, would you speak to me candidly?

There are many strong bloggers with credentials out there who might get such an interview, but unfortunately, a good deal of blogging is metanews. Dan Kennedy's recent article in the Boston Phoenix does not even quote a live source...and it's not even a blog! While blogs are doing a great amount of research, more traditional institutions of journalism are still needed to get the quotes.

...Which is probably why my professor pointed me to an article that originally appeared on IPS, an independent news service. Independent and trustworthy? That I can live with - in another post.