Credibility is All

In journalism, credibility is everything.

With rare exceptions, journalists do not need doctorates. They do not belong to professional organizations such as those for lawyers and doctors. Journalists can be sued for libel, but they cannot be disbarred for misrepresentation or stripped of their license for malpractice.

There is no such thing as a license to practice journalism. You do not even need a bachelor’s degree to become a journalist, although it a long time since high school dropouts could hope to snag a job at the copy desk of a daily newspaper and work their way up to become the managing editor.

For now, it is hard for anyone to snag any kind of job at a daily newspaper.

Ten years ago, I could confidently assure a student who graduated from Shepherd with a major in English and a minor in journalism that it would be possible to find some kind of job as a beginning reporter.

Those were the nostalgic days of yore when journalism students could not only find jobs but keep them. One such Shepherd grad, for example, shared her experience as a newly hired reporter for The North Virginia Daily.

Her editor assigned her a story requiring an interview from a local official. She made an appointment, showed up on time, asked the questions she had prepared and took copious notes. But, for some reason, the subject of the story seemed surly and preoccupied, barely able to take the time to talk.

As she left, the reporter realized she had forgotten to ask how to spell the individual’s name and neglected to verify the person’s title.

Rather than go back and bother the source again, she simply looked up the office number on the directory in the lobby of the building, copied the name and title of the person listed, and used that information in her story.

Unfortunately, the name on the office directory belonged to somebody who had retired a few weeks before. The same job now belonged to another person with very different name. Ooops…..

Her editor did not fire her. But it was a close call.

The former student wrote to me so that I could share her learning experience with students coming after her. Yes, you do need to verify the correctly spelled name and the accurate title of the individual quoted in your story.

Whether you are writing for The Picket or The New York Times, the standards of credibility apply to every article, even if there is no governing board to enforce professional practices. Credibility counts.

Beginning jobs in journalism are now harder to find than the snows of yesteryear. Nevertheless, enrollment in journalism schools has burgeoned beyond expectations. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, there are more than 200,000 students currently enrolled in graduate programs in journalism, an increase of 35 percent in the past ten years.

Many of those students are clearly hoping to make careers in the new media rather than in the fast fading field of print journalism. Still, certain truths remain valid even as the technology changes before our eyes.

As a journalist, your credibility defines who you are.