J'Accuse all journalists of betraying their duty

 J'Accuse, I accuse all journalists of betraying their sacred duty. A duty not just to their profession, but to the very soul of humanity. Have you forgotten your role as the watchdogs of society? All journalists? Yes, every single one who has turned a blind eye to the truth, who has failed to probe the uncomfortable questions, who has silently observed the spreading web of deception.

We see those who know the answers but dare not unveil them, those who allow the fabrications of others to fester in the public mind, those who cower in fear of losing their paychecks, their stature, or becoming the target of their peers' scorn. Is this the legacy they wish to leave?

Had they but found the courage to speak out, to seek the unvarnished truth, to do the job they were called to do, our world would be different.

Consider what we would all have gained had they done their job by;-

• exposing sexual abuse by Harvey Weinstein, Rolf Harris, Bill Cosby, or Jeffrey Epstein when they first heard of instances

• calling out China's infiltration into the Western World through stealing intellectual property via the 1000 Minds projects, the harassment of ex-Chinese citizens via the illegal Chinese Police Stations or its tentacles in the upper echelons of governments worldwide

• reporting honestly about the Antifa-led riots and not condoning them by calling them 'mainly peaceful' 

• reporting honestly and accurately on the riot at the Capitol on Jan 6 and not mislabeling it an 'insurrection' and the 'worst since the Civil War'

• calling out the origin of the COVID virus as most likely from the Wuhan WIV

• not encouraging mandatory vaccination when using an emergency authorised vaccine

• discouraging climate hysteria by providing an accurate IPCC perspective and calling out terms such as 'global boiling' 

• calling out the immoral support of Hamas and Hezbollah by European countries calling it aid knowing the money is diverted to funding terrorists

• accurately reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop 

• exposing Joe Biden's cognitive deficit before he was elected. There was ample evidence for every one.

A free society will only stay free if the Fourth Estate does not squander its mandate to report the truth without fear or favour. 

You have one job, do it!

10 rules to raise the standard of professional journailsm

In many earlier posts I have written about our media, highlighting bias, inappropriate priorities and the poor attitudes of journalists always looking for gotcha moments (see Media posts ).  The posts provide many examples of these failures so I won't go through them again.

A major contributor to these failures is the ever-increasing competition by a voracious media for engaged and loyal audiences. Journalists and news commentators adopt attitudes aligned with their audience in order to garner a following. This in turn drives the selection of the stories they cover, the arguments/questions they raise and their attitude in interviews.

Given journalists have these 'negative' drivers, management must be ever more proactive to ensure standards are maintained, or preferably raised. They can do this by setting clear editorial guidelines, and ensuring all journalists know are fully informed and expected to follow them. Moreover compliance should be monitored and any failures penalized.

This post would not be complete without at least a suggested list of Editorial Guidelines. My suggestions are based on the editorial guidelines for the highly professional PBS Newshour. (see Another Chapter Begins for Newshour)

10 rules for professional journalists

1. Do not report anything you cannot defend.
2. Cover, write, and present every story with the care you would want if the story were about you.
3. Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story.
4. Assume the viewer is as smart and as caring and as good a person as you believe yourself to be.
5. Assume the same about all people on whom you report.
6. Assume personal lives are a private matter until a legitimate turn in the story absolutely mandates otherwise.
7. Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories, and clearly label everything
8. Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions.
9. No one should ever be allowed to attack another anonymously.
10. Remember you are NOT in the entertainment business.

Even if followed rigorously these rules may not guarantee audiences, but would certainly raise the standards of news commentary.