Can You Believe It?
Even the best informed of the people have learnt that nothing in a newspaper is to be believed. Thomas JeffersonIn his book, Instant Analysis, Forrest Boyd describes some of the shortcomings of the press and reasons why you "can't believe everything you read" or hear in the news. This is a summary of the chapter he has entitled, "Forgive Us Our Press Passes:"
Hard Lead - One of the foremost causes of misleading news stories is the tradition of writing what the newspaper trade calls a "hard lead." It's the first sentence of a news story that is supposed to summarize the story in an eye-catching way. And it often amounts to the reporter's idea of what a government official meant to say, not what he said. Every writer tries to come up with a snappy, interesting lead that tells all the essential parts of the entire story in a concise way and whets the appetite of the reader or listener \ viewer. However, as he boils it down to size and "sharpens it up" for interest, interpretation enters and sometimes can give exactly the opposite of the meaning intended. What makes the lead more important is that many, if not most, readers read only the first paragraph or so of even major stories. I think that the most powerful influence in the communications world is not the column, or the editorial, or TV special, but the lead and the headline that tops it. This is not restricted to the newspapers. The five-minute radio newscasts are so constructed because of time limitations that the writer finds he must use essentially only leads.
Overnighters - Another mechanical factor that greatly influences opinion, sometimes in a distorted way, is what is called the "overnighter." This is a story that is written and filed at night in time to make the next day's papers and the morning newscasts. It may be a rewrite of the day's news, an updating of the news, a rundown of what is expected to take place the day the story is used, sheer speculation, or, at best, brand new information that is given out in advance for morning release.
The overnighter is one of the most difficult stories to write because as a rule, nothing much happens during the night and the writer has to use ingenuity to "freshen up" an old story or "go out on a limb" about what the day ahead may bring.
Interpretive Reporting - The sins of the press also include errors that creep in through interpretive reporting. Sometimes strange things are done with the truth in the news business. The presidents I have covered have expressed the preference for talking directly to the people through radio and television rather than giving a story to reporters and letting them write it. The reason is that the reporters sometimes, if not most times, put their own spin on the ball so that the result is not what the president intended. However, despite the dangers, I believe interpretive reporting is not only desirable but necessary. The general public is not equipped to make reasonable conclusions on the meanings of individual news items. The average person does not have files of related information to bring into the picture for perspective. The value of a good reporter is that he can take a new piece of information and put it into a jigsaw puzzle made up of other pieces of information and produce a total picture of a certain subject.
Instant Analysis - Former Washington columnist, Peter Edson, commenting on "Instant Analysis," warned that the reporter should not think he knows all the answers and try to run the country or dictate to it. He said some columnists give the impression of knowing all there is to know about every subject they write on. "All too often," he said, "the personal opinion columns with their big `I think' or `I believe' are the results of mere head-scratching, thumb-sucking, and fingernail-biting."
There are many other sins that we could talk about regarding journalists. But, some of the principal concerns that people have had with the press are: editorial prejudice, inadequate research, inaccurate headlines, and too much attention to sensational news. I can only say I am sorry for these shortcomings. I do not take them lightly, and feel that in our endeavors through United News and Information (UNINews) and others, we are trying our best to correct them and to be honorable before our true Editor, the Lord.
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