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Ten Elements of Journalism – by Iwan Yulianto
Let’s learn about reading and writing for the media…
When reading the Indonesian media, we often come across differences in how the same stories are presented. Some media outlets even break journalistic ethics when
writing about events, and attack certain groups or individuals. The falseness of such news is often caused by the outlets’ interests, meaning that that particular outlet cannot
any longer be called ‘independent’. Some readers are capable of identifying mistakes, gaffes, and errors; the majority, however, are unable to do so, and end up being
influenced by the media’s own opinions, even though the media has been breaking codes of conduct. This situation is worsening thanks to a media oligopoly run by just a
handful of people, and leads to the marginalization of opinions.
This means we need to understand the principles of journalism. One group of principles has already become standard amongst journalists; they are known as the ten elements
of journalism. One of the best books for learning about this is Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel’s The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the
Public Should Expect. The elements of journalism discussed in this section originate from Kovach and Rosentiel’s book.
The summary of journalism’s most important elements was developed over three years by the Committee of Concerned Journalists, involving 1,200 journalists. The ten
elements identified by the Committee represent one set of elements – they cannot be
separated from one another, none can be prioritized over others, and they all must be followed by all journalists.
1. Truth
Truth in journalism is not just about accuracy, but about truth that is practical and functional. That means journalists must be truthful in how they tell stories to ensure that
readers can obtain the information they need to be independent decision-makers.
2. Loyalty to the public
News outlets have a number of interests they must serve: the outlet’s head company
and shareholders, community organizations, local interest groups, advertisers, and many others. However, the number one loyalty must be to the public.
3. Verification
Kovach and Rosentiel begin Chapter 4 of their book by quoting Thucydides, a historian of the Peloponnesian war in 5 CE:
With regard to my factual reporting of events … I have made it a principle not to write down the first story that came my way, and not even to be guided by my own general impressions; either I
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was present myself at the events which I have described or else heard of them from eye witnesses whose reports I have checked with as much thoroughness as possible. Not that even
so the truth was easy to discover: different eye witnesses gave different accounts of the same events, speaking out partiality for one side or the other, or else from imperfect memories.
This principle from thousands of years ago is what we today call verification. Verification is what separates journalism from entertainment, propaganda, fiction, and art.
Entertainment focuses on taking whatever angle will best capture the attention of readers. Propaganda selects or manipulates facts to persuade readers. Journalism is
different because it focuses on what actually happened.
Verification happens through finding eye witnesses, listening to and reading accounts from multiple sources of news, and asking for comments from a range of figures. The
aim of verification is to ensure the journalist can report what really happened. This is similar to how objectivity is employed by journalists
– it is not the journalist who is objective, but the way she tells the story.
Kovach and Rosentiel argue that verification is being left behind in the age of the internet and social media. Information appears faster and is shared faster. Journalists
must ask themselves two questions to ensure they are properly verifying their reporting:
- Am I not biased towards my sources? - Will any sides in this story be upset with my reporting?
There are also five key principles that journalists should remember while verifying: - Do not add something that did not happen or was not said;
- Do not trick or deceive your readers; - Be as transparent as possible with regards to your method and motivation for
reporting on the story; - Rely on your own original reporting as much as possible;
- Be modest and humble, and do not assume you are the person who knows the most about the story.
Kovach and Rosentiel offer a number of concrete methods for verification of news. Firstly, edit with skepticism. Edit line by line, sentence by sentence, and always with
skepticism.
Secondly, analyze the news’ accuracy. Kovach and Rosentiel have created an accuracy checklist for this purpose:
- Is your news’ lead supported by strong data?
- Have you asked someone else to double-check the information mentioned in your story? Are all addresses, names, titles, and telephone numbers correct?
30 - Is there enough background information in the story that allows readers to fully
understand what happened? - Have all those involved been given the chance to speak about what happened?
- Does the story support or positively judge one side of what happened? If so, who might disagree with or be upset by the story beyond accepted boundaries?
- Is there anything missing? - Are all quotes accurate? Are their sources mentioned and accurate? Do the
quotes accurately represent the relevant sources’ opinions? If the journalist does not have direct knowledge of an event described by eye witnesses,
they should consider making this obvious. For example, the example of a headline reading ‘Helsingfor says Lenin is dead’, compared to ‘Lenin is dead’ as the journalist
has probably not seen Lenin’s body for herself. Thirdly, do not assume anything. Do not automatically assume that news from formal
sources is accurate. Journalists must get as close to the source as possible. David Protess, a professor from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in
the United States, uses a three concentric circle system. The outer circle is for secondary sources such as news clippings. The middle circle is for official documents
such as court reports, police reports, financial reports, and so on. The innermost circle is for eye witnesses.
Fourthly, journalists must fact-check. Tom French, a 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner, uses his own method for fact-
checking, called Tom French’s Coloured Pencil. His method is simple
– French goes through his articles one line at a time, using coloured pencils to highlight which are facts from sources and which are his own opinions. He then checks
the background of all sources – what is their motive for giving information? What are
their interests? The editing and fact-checking process should be done by the reporter and editor
together whenever possible. In fact, the two should physically sit together. If they are far apart and have communication issues, this can cause problems, as experienced by the
Java Post in 2005.
Rizal Husein, a journalist from the Java Post, interviewed Nur Aini, the wife of the alleged mastermind behind the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, Dr Azahari bin Husin. He
claimed that he interviewed her by telephone, as she was in Malaysia at the time. One month later, the Java Post published her interview after her husband was killed in a raid
in East Java. The Post mentioned that Nur Aini spoke with a thick Malay accent.
Rizal Husein’s lies were uncovered when Trans TV interviewed Nur Aini live on TV. It turned out that Nur Aini could not physically speak
– she had damaged her voice box some years earlier as a result of thyroid cancer.
31 The Java Post fired Rizal Husein after discovering the falsification of his report. The
editors apologized for what happened on the front page of the newspaper. Rizal Husein claimed that he did not have bad intentions; he simply wanted the Java Post to be the
best at covering terrorism.
4. Independence
