Truth and the journalist

THE pair should be like lovers, who never want to get separated. In fact, they should be like a married couple, with strong commitments to each other and whose love is renewed daily.

But their relationship is actually very dynamic, and these days many times tenuous, since it’s subject to all sorts of trials and pressures. Many factors and circumstances, some fleeting, others more constant, can tighten or loosen it.

And nowadays, with stiff competition among media outfits, there are tendencies, subtle but consistent, to distort that relationship and reduce it into something else.

Just like couples who allow their love to weaken, or who marry just for convenience, the relationship between truth and the journalist can also deteriorate and get stuck at a level mutually dangerous for both of them. Truth is not properly served and the journalist is unavoidably corrupted. The market gets a bad product.

Each newspaper and media outlet, I imagine, has its own idea of its market, and each one tries to capture and keep that market’s attention. That’s its niche, and the kind of thing it dishes out is its level of journalism.

Everyone has to feel the responsibility to make his journalism conform to the objective purpose of his profession, while adapting it the local or market conditions. He actually plays a crucial role in developing people, both personally and socially. He should have an abiding awareness of this duty.

It cannot be denied that the journalist has tremendous influence on the people. Forget the claim that he just reports, he only mirrors things, he is objective and neutral. No such thing.

He at least sets the tone, and packs great power to at least suggest. He serves people properly only when he realizes these factors and does something to avoid giving an unfair treatment of things. And this is a living concern, not a fixed one. It needs continuing check and balance.

He has to be wary of the temptation to fall into easy sensationalism, and hasty, inadequately verified declarations. He has to ably protect himself from the lures of commercialism, treating information more as a merchandise rather than a good to foster human dignity, that now seems to prevail in the media world.

Just look at some newspapers. They are fast becoming carriers of advertisements, rather than a spreader of news and a source of good and healthy public opinion.

If it’s not that, then they feast on controversies and intrigues to grab people’s attention, even if only for a moment. They can generate such air of suspicion and negativism that leaves society feeling choked and suffocated.

One time, someone who was into investigative journalism approached me and we talked at length. At one point he said that he hardly did much investigation in his work, since the materials to write on are secretly given to him and his companions by certain interest groups.

Of course, while that situation may not be wrong in itself, the reality of life tells us that it usually leads to many wrong consequences. When some groups seed issues to the press, the motives behind must be strictly checked. In fact, everything has to be scrutinized.

What is important is that the whole matter be placed in its wider and proper context—the common good and the many requirements the common good makes. The ethical aspect should be examined thoroughly. A lot of things are at stake, and the potential to cause big trouble is great.

And this task is not easy, since there are many competing interests, each with its share of validity, and they all need to be properly integrated. Often, the correct blend can be known only in hindsight. But if the journalist is humble enough, he will always make the necessary adjustments, the daily tweaking, and the regular “mea culpa.”

Truth may start with facts and data, but it certainly goes far beyond that stage and enters deep into the world of mysteries. It’s how the journalist navigates its range and scope, knowing where to focus, what to highlight at the moment, how to present it, etc., that determines the kind of journalist one is.

This gives him a wide room to maneuver to fit the endless possibilities of style and creativity as well as his desire to contribute to the common good.

Yes, truth and the journalist should be real lovers of each other.