As journalists in training, Ed Board realizes that college students in general aren’t afforded the same respect as “real” reporters. This is understandable – we lack the degree and the on-the-job training of most paid professionals. The audience for student publications or productions is notably smaller than most media outlets. And being reporters is not (yet) our jobs; we’re still students first and foremost.
This does not, however, give public officials the right to abuse our lack of experience.
Here’s a hypothetical situation: a guest speaker comes to talk to a large group of journalism students about a relevant, controversial and newsworthy topic – but only on the condition that it’s off the record.
No publishing anything in the DC, no broadcasting anything on the Daily Update, no articles on smudailydata.com.
Why? The talk is being billed as an “educational” experience.
Since when has teaching reporters not to report a newsworthy subject been considered “education?” Or for that matter not to challenge someone’s motives. If the topic discussed by the official has little to do with the content of the class, even in the way of practical application, the education factor is nil.
Going off the record should only be allowed in cases where there’s simply no other way to get a handle on a story. And even then, it’s only done in individual interviews, not in press conference situations. If journalists don’t adhere to this standard, situations can get irreversibly messy and sources gain the upper hand. All too often, the motives for requesting to go off the record are selfish. The potential for deception is extremely high.
In a world where the diversification of media outlets is already shifting power to sources (if you won’t let me go off the record, reporter X will), we should not send the message to journalism students to sit idly by while people who know better dictate the parameters of the story – or worse, deny journalists the ability to write a story at all.
Public officials know this. Professional journalists do, too. So shouldn’t faculty?
Sure, students who have a problem can leave, but that course of action solves nothing. A large group of students is still being taken advantage of with the approval of journalism staff and administration. If these same public officials walked into a room full of “real” reporters and announced that everything they said would be off the record, they’d be laughed out of the room.
Part of their job is to disseminate information to reporters. Our job is to report it. Officials paid with taxpayers’ money should never get a free ride when it comes to news.
