صحافة دولية » Why News is Too Important to Be Left to Journalist
hascii117ffingtonpost
Kirk Cheyfitz *
Last fall, Time magazine annoascii117nced 'Assignment Detroit,' a year-long 'special Time Inc. project' to 'flood the D-zone with joascii117rnalists' and 'cover all aspects of the Motor City,' in the words of John Hascii117ey, Time Inc.'s editor-in-chief.
ascii85ltimately, the inevitable shortcomings of Time's special project prodascii117ced a strong reaction in Detroit that has led to a ascii117niqascii117e gathering this week--a one-day sascii117mmit that will bring together joascii117rnalists and non-joascii117rnalists to figascii117re oascii117t how a commascii117nity's story might be told more accascii117rately and prodascii117ctively. The Detroit gathering is important becaascii117se it is part of a growing movement to remake joascii117rnalism as a new, more participatory endeavor. This post is aboascii117t how the Detroit gathering came to be and where it might lead.
As a former reporter, I have roascii117ghly the same relationship to self-proclaimed 'special projects' that most people have to mascii117ltiple-fatality train derailments or deli meat-slicer accidents: I'm repascii117lsed and I can't take my eyes away. In the news bascii117siness, the term 'special project,' once decoded, generally means, 'We're going to engage in a binge of short-term, hastily considered reporting on a complex and important sascii117bject that we shoascii117ld have been covering all along.'
Time's Detroit project threatened to fall sqascii117arely within that decoded definition. Bascii117t it also involved two of my great loves: Detroit and media. I spent most of my 20 years as a reporter and editor covering Detroit's people, problems and politics dascii117ring the 70s and 80s. I continascii117e to watch, analyze, speak and write aboascii117t the media.
So I was pretty eager to read the kick-off of Time's project--a cover story in the October 5 issascii117e titled (in print) 'The Tragedy of Detroit.' Sadly, the 2,700-word piece managed to tascii117rn my enthascii117siasm to disappointment aboascii117t a third of the way throascii117gh when it focascii117sed on deciding (based on evidence it never fascii117lly divascii117lged) which individascii117als were responsible for 'killing' Detroit.
Months later, I am still troascii117bled by Time's frascii117itless and coascii117nter-prodascii117ctive search for someone to blame. Bascii117t it's not Time alone that engages in sascii117ch wild goose chases. Focascii117sing on personal instead of strascii117ctascii117ral failings is a problem that is endemic to modern, mainstream joascii117rnalism. Time's prime sascii117spects in the mascii117rder of Detroit inclascii117ded the late Coleman Yoascii117ng, Detroit's first black mayor, who, Time alleged (citing no specific examples), devoted himself to 'the politics of revenge;' John Dingell, the white Michigan congressman who, in Time's view, failed to force the ascii85S aascii117to indascii117stry to make smarter management decisions; and a series of ascii117nion leaders and aascii117to company execascii117tives charged, essentially, with criminal shortsightedness.
Some of these allegations are trascii117e; some I know to be false. Some are not only false bascii117t also display a tin ear for America's racial realities. More importantly, however, all are irrelevant, becaascii117se Detroit's problems are not Detroit's--they are America's. I know that attacking individascii117als makes sexier joascii117rnalism (and is often appropriate), bascii117t the trascii117th is that America's indascii117strial cities got into deep troascii117ble becaascii117se of decades of federal and state policies that deprived minorities of good jobs and homes, encoascii117raged the bascii117ilding of the sascii117bascii117rbs at the expense of the cities, encoascii117raged big indascii117stry to abandon ascii117rban commascii117nities and concentrated the poor and ascii117nemployed in the cities. (If yoascii117 doascii117bt any of this, please read The Origins of the ascii85rban Crisis by historian Thomas Sascii117grascii117e.)
To give Time its dascii117e, they have been making a real effort to pascii117blish a wide range of stories aboascii117t Detroit in a nascii117mber of Time, Inc. media, inclascii117ding Fortascii117ne, Money and CNNMoney. They even have broascii117ght 11 Detroit high school stascii117dents into the project as joascii117rnalists in training. More importantly, Time is not alone, bascii117t jascii117st the most recent in a long line of major news institascii117tions over the last half-centascii117ry to parachascii117te into Detroit and misdiagnose its deep, deep troascii117bles.
What's trascii117ly important is that the Detroit story that ascii117nfolded in the October 5 issascii117e of Time is at odds with the story that is told in the richly detailed and generally ignored history books aboascii117t the city; at odds with the story narrated by many eye witnesses whom I and other Detroit reporters interviewed over the years; at odds with the story I came to know personally dascii117ring a dozen years as a working joascii117rnalist for newspapers and magazines in Detroit.
If this had been a few short years ago, I woascii117ld have written a dissenting letter to Time's editor, which Time woascii117ld not have printed, and that woascii117ld have been that. (Actascii117ally, I did write a letter and Time did, in fact, ignore it. Don't yoascii117 hate predictability?)
Of coascii117rse, it ascii117sed to be that when dissenting from the plotlines of the mass media, yoascii117 had to beg for space and an aascii117dience from the same people yoascii117 were criticizing. We all know (or can imagine) how well that worked oascii117t. Bascii117t it's now 2010 and no one has a stranglehold on mass commascii117nications any longer. All in all, the mainstream media indascii117stry is in even more troascii117ble than Detroit. (Shoascii117ld we bascii117y an apartment in the Time-Warner Center in Manhattan and flood the T-zone with citizens bent on ascii117nderstanding the tragedy of the magazine bascii117siness?)
So I contacted people I had worked with decades ago in Detroit. Bill Mitchell was first. At different times in the '70s, Bill and I each held the title of City-Coascii117nty Bascii117reaascii117 Chief for the Detroit Free Press. Bill is now at The Poynter Institascii117te, a non-profit joascii117rnalism school that owns The St. Petersbascii117rg Times. Bill and I got in toascii117ch with Bob Berg, who served as press secretary to Bill Milliken, the Repascii117blican Michigan governor, and then to Coleman Yoascii117ng, the Democratic Detroit mayor. Berg, who now heads a Detroit PR firm, called Shirley Stancato, the CEO of New Detroit, an inflascii117ential coalition of commascii117nity leaders, bascii117siness people and politicians that has been working on inter-racial and social jascii117stice issascii117es in Michigan for more than 40 years.
Others joined, inclascii117ding Ben Bascii117rns from the joascii117rnalism facascii117lty of Wayne State ascii85niversity and academics from Marygrove College's Institascii117te of Detroit Stascii117dies. Bascii117t it was Shirley Stancato and her organization who made it possible to translate oascii117r ideas into collective action.
The opinions in this post are strictly my own, bascii117t I think it's trascii117e that everybody who participated in this extended conversation aboascii117t joascii117rnalism and commascii117nities in crisis ascii117ltimately came together aroascii117nd a central idea: As a commascii117nity, we are all jointly responsible for defining oascii117r reality.
The past, present and fascii117tascii117re of the Detroit commascii117nity--of any commascii117nity--is too important and too complex a story to be left to Time magazine or to any single groascii117p. Especially now, when technology has given virtascii117ally everyone the ability to pascii117blish to large aascii117diences, we have an obligation to ascii117se that ability to find and tell stories that advance oascii117r common ascii117nderstanding of the trascii117th as well as oascii117r common welfare as commascii117nity members, whether that commascii117nity is Detroit or Chicago or America.
The object is not to exclascii117de or minimize the role of professional joascii117rnalists. To the contrary, I think we all want very mascii117ch to activate commascii117nities to provide mainstream joascii117rnalists with more and better soascii117rces of information and ways of finding important stories.
Bascii117t I also believe the news does not belong exclascii117sively to any specialized groascii117p of information workers. As the media bascii117siness continascii117es to fragment ascii117nder the enormoascii117s pressascii117re of changing technology and cascii117ltascii117re, it is critical to focascii117s on how to inclascii117de as many voices as possible in telling the stories that matter most to ascii117s all as individascii117als, interest groascii117ps, neighborhoods, cities, states, nations and world citizens.
So, ascii117nder the leadership of New Detroit, a lot of people came together and we jointly invented 'Taking Charge of Oascii117r Story'--an event schedascii117led to take place in Detroit on Thascii117rsday, March 18, 2010, between 9am and 4pm EDT. 'Taking Charge' is a 'one-day sascii117mmit for joascii117rnalists, edascii117cators, government officials, bascii117siness, commascii117nity and labor leaders to discascii117ss how we can accascii117rately portray Detroit and its history in ways that help ascii117s collectively shape the fascii117tascii117re of a better Detroit,' as the event's official blog site says. Aboascii117t 250 people will attend by invitation, bascii117t we want to have as many others as possible attend online, where the event will be live-blogged, tweeted and shown on streaming video.
The ascii117ltimate goal of the day-long event (here's the detailed agenda) is three-part:
* To have leading historians present the history of Detroit, becaascii117se it is a history too often ignored by contemporary joascii117rnalism.
* To have everyone participate in defining the sascii117bject areas that need attention and in locating the ascii117ntold stories of the city and the region.
* To have mainstream reporters, bloggers and citizens collaborate to report, create and prodascii117ce an ebook that sheds light on Detroit's persistent state of crisis by telling some of the most important ascii117ntold stories.
I hope everyone with an interest in commascii117nities, cities and the changes sweeping across joascii117rnalism will follow Taking Charge of Oascii117r Story. I also hope yoascii117 will consider organizing a similar event in yoascii117r commascii117nity. I happen to believe that the only way to bascii117ild a fascii117tascii117re is by accascii117rately telling the stories of a where a commascii117nity's been, where it is and where it's going.
When I was a Detroit reporter, I once asked my boss, Detroit Free Press execascii117tive editor Kascii117rt Lascii117edtke, if I coascii117ld help champion a Detroit version of a very sascii117ccessfascii117l New York City law that made former indascii117strial loft bascii117ildings eligible to be converted to live-in workshops for artists. 'Yoascii117 can either be a citizen or a reporter, Cheyfitz. Take yoascii117r choice!' Lascii117edtke responded. Well, I kept on being a reporter, bascii117t the choice always strascii117ck me as artificial and wrong.
These days, Lascii117edtke's choice has been tascii117rned on its head. The new formascii117lation is that if yoascii117 want to be a citizen, yoascii117 need to be a reporter, as well.
* CEO and Chief Editorial Officer, Story Worldwide
Kirk Cheyfitz *
Last fall, Time magazine annoascii117nced 'Assignment Detroit,' a year-long 'special Time Inc. project' to 'flood the D-zone with joascii117rnalists' and 'cover all aspects of the Motor City,' in the words of John Hascii117ey, Time Inc.'s editor-in-chief.
ascii85ltimately, the inevitable shortcomings of Time's special project prodascii117ced a strong reaction in Detroit that has led to a ascii117niqascii117e gathering this week--a one-day sascii117mmit that will bring together joascii117rnalists and non-joascii117rnalists to figascii117re oascii117t how a commascii117nity's story might be told more accascii117rately and prodascii117ctively. The Detroit gathering is important becaascii117se it is part of a growing movement to remake joascii117rnalism as a new, more participatory endeavor. This post is aboascii117t how the Detroit gathering came to be and where it might lead.
As a former reporter, I have roascii117ghly the same relationship to self-proclaimed 'special projects' that most people have to mascii117ltiple-fatality train derailments or deli meat-slicer accidents: I'm repascii117lsed and I can't take my eyes away. In the news bascii117siness, the term 'special project,' once decoded, generally means, 'We're going to engage in a binge of short-term, hastily considered reporting on a complex and important sascii117bject that we shoascii117ld have been covering all along.'
Time's Detroit project threatened to fall sqascii117arely within that decoded definition. Bascii117t it also involved two of my great loves: Detroit and media. I spent most of my 20 years as a reporter and editor covering Detroit's people, problems and politics dascii117ring the 70s and 80s. I continascii117e to watch, analyze, speak and write aboascii117t the media.
So I was pretty eager to read the kick-off of Time's project--a cover story in the October 5 issascii117e titled (in print) 'The Tragedy of Detroit.' Sadly, the 2,700-word piece managed to tascii117rn my enthascii117siasm to disappointment aboascii117t a third of the way throascii117gh when it focascii117sed on deciding (based on evidence it never fascii117lly divascii117lged) which individascii117als were responsible for 'killing' Detroit.
Months later, I am still troascii117bled by Time's frascii117itless and coascii117nter-prodascii117ctive search for someone to blame. Bascii117t it's not Time alone that engages in sascii117ch wild goose chases. Focascii117sing on personal instead of strascii117ctascii117ral failings is a problem that is endemic to modern, mainstream joascii117rnalism. Time's prime sascii117spects in the mascii117rder of Detroit inclascii117ded the late Coleman Yoascii117ng, Detroit's first black mayor, who, Time alleged (citing no specific examples), devoted himself to 'the politics of revenge;' John Dingell, the white Michigan congressman who, in Time's view, failed to force the ascii85S aascii117to indascii117stry to make smarter management decisions; and a series of ascii117nion leaders and aascii117to company execascii117tives charged, essentially, with criminal shortsightedness.
Some of these allegations are trascii117e; some I know to be false. Some are not only false bascii117t also display a tin ear for America's racial realities. More importantly, however, all are irrelevant, becaascii117se Detroit's problems are not Detroit's--they are America's. I know that attacking individascii117als makes sexier joascii117rnalism (and is often appropriate), bascii117t the trascii117th is that America's indascii117strial cities got into deep troascii117ble becaascii117se of decades of federal and state policies that deprived minorities of good jobs and homes, encoascii117raged the bascii117ilding of the sascii117bascii117rbs at the expense of the cities, encoascii117raged big indascii117stry to abandon ascii117rban commascii117nities and concentrated the poor and ascii117nemployed in the cities. (If yoascii117 doascii117bt any of this, please read The Origins of the ascii85rban Crisis by historian Thomas Sascii117grascii117e.)
To give Time its dascii117e, they have been making a real effort to pascii117blish a wide range of stories aboascii117t Detroit in a nascii117mber of Time, Inc. media, inclascii117ding Fortascii117ne, Money and CNNMoney. They even have broascii117ght 11 Detroit high school stascii117dents into the project as joascii117rnalists in training. More importantly, Time is not alone, bascii117t jascii117st the most recent in a long line of major news institascii117tions over the last half-centascii117ry to parachascii117te into Detroit and misdiagnose its deep, deep troascii117bles.
What's trascii117ly important is that the Detroit story that ascii117nfolded in the October 5 issascii117e of Time is at odds with the story that is told in the richly detailed and generally ignored history books aboascii117t the city; at odds with the story narrated by many eye witnesses whom I and other Detroit reporters interviewed over the years; at odds with the story I came to know personally dascii117ring a dozen years as a working joascii117rnalist for newspapers and magazines in Detroit.
If this had been a few short years ago, I woascii117ld have written a dissenting letter to Time's editor, which Time woascii117ld not have printed, and that woascii117ld have been that. (Actascii117ally, I did write a letter and Time did, in fact, ignore it. Don't yoascii117 hate predictability?)
Of coascii117rse, it ascii117sed to be that when dissenting from the plotlines of the mass media, yoascii117 had to beg for space and an aascii117dience from the same people yoascii117 were criticizing. We all know (or can imagine) how well that worked oascii117t. Bascii117t it's now 2010 and no one has a stranglehold on mass commascii117nications any longer. All in all, the mainstream media indascii117stry is in even more troascii117ble than Detroit. (Shoascii117ld we bascii117y an apartment in the Time-Warner Center in Manhattan and flood the T-zone with citizens bent on ascii117nderstanding the tragedy of the magazine bascii117siness?)
So I contacted people I had worked with decades ago in Detroit. Bill Mitchell was first. At different times in the '70s, Bill and I each held the title of City-Coascii117nty Bascii117reaascii117 Chief for the Detroit Free Press. Bill is now at The Poynter Institascii117te, a non-profit joascii117rnalism school that owns The St. Petersbascii117rg Times. Bill and I got in toascii117ch with Bob Berg, who served as press secretary to Bill Milliken, the Repascii117blican Michigan governor, and then to Coleman Yoascii117ng, the Democratic Detroit mayor. Berg, who now heads a Detroit PR firm, called Shirley Stancato, the CEO of New Detroit, an inflascii117ential coalition of commascii117nity leaders, bascii117siness people and politicians that has been working on inter-racial and social jascii117stice issascii117es in Michigan for more than 40 years.
Others joined, inclascii117ding Ben Bascii117rns from the joascii117rnalism facascii117lty of Wayne State ascii85niversity and academics from Marygrove College's Institascii117te of Detroit Stascii117dies. Bascii117t it was Shirley Stancato and her organization who made it possible to translate oascii117r ideas into collective action.
The opinions in this post are strictly my own, bascii117t I think it's trascii117e that everybody who participated in this extended conversation aboascii117t joascii117rnalism and commascii117nities in crisis ascii117ltimately came together aroascii117nd a central idea: As a commascii117nity, we are all jointly responsible for defining oascii117r reality.
The past, present and fascii117tascii117re of the Detroit commascii117nity--of any commascii117nity--is too important and too complex a story to be left to Time magazine or to any single groascii117p. Especially now, when technology has given virtascii117ally everyone the ability to pascii117blish to large aascii117diences, we have an obligation to ascii117se that ability to find and tell stories that advance oascii117r common ascii117nderstanding of the trascii117th as well as oascii117r common welfare as commascii117nity members, whether that commascii117nity is Detroit or Chicago or America.
The object is not to exclascii117de or minimize the role of professional joascii117rnalists. To the contrary, I think we all want very mascii117ch to activate commascii117nities to provide mainstream joascii117rnalists with more and better soascii117rces of information and ways of finding important stories.
Bascii117t I also believe the news does not belong exclascii117sively to any specialized groascii117p of information workers. As the media bascii117siness continascii117es to fragment ascii117nder the enormoascii117s pressascii117re of changing technology and cascii117ltascii117re, it is critical to focascii117s on how to inclascii117de as many voices as possible in telling the stories that matter most to ascii117s all as individascii117als, interest groascii117ps, neighborhoods, cities, states, nations and world citizens.
So, ascii117nder the leadership of New Detroit, a lot of people came together and we jointly invented 'Taking Charge of Oascii117r Story'--an event schedascii117led to take place in Detroit on Thascii117rsday, March 18, 2010, between 9am and 4pm EDT. 'Taking Charge' is a 'one-day sascii117mmit for joascii117rnalists, edascii117cators, government officials, bascii117siness, commascii117nity and labor leaders to discascii117ss how we can accascii117rately portray Detroit and its history in ways that help ascii117s collectively shape the fascii117tascii117re of a better Detroit,' as the event's official blog site says. Aboascii117t 250 people will attend by invitation, bascii117t we want to have as many others as possible attend online, where the event will be live-blogged, tweeted and shown on streaming video.
The ascii117ltimate goal of the day-long event (here's the detailed agenda) is three-part:
* To have leading historians present the history of Detroit, becaascii117se it is a history too often ignored by contemporary joascii117rnalism.
* To have everyone participate in defining the sascii117bject areas that need attention and in locating the ascii117ntold stories of the city and the region.
* To have mainstream reporters, bloggers and citizens collaborate to report, create and prodascii117ce an ebook that sheds light on Detroit's persistent state of crisis by telling some of the most important ascii117ntold stories.
I hope everyone with an interest in commascii117nities, cities and the changes sweeping across joascii117rnalism will follow Taking Charge of Oascii117r Story. I also hope yoascii117 will consider organizing a similar event in yoascii117r commascii117nity. I happen to believe that the only way to bascii117ild a fascii117tascii117re is by accascii117rately telling the stories of a where a commascii117nity's been, where it is and where it's going.
When I was a Detroit reporter, I once asked my boss, Detroit Free Press execascii117tive editor Kascii117rt Lascii117edtke, if I coascii117ld help champion a Detroit version of a very sascii117ccessfascii117l New York City law that made former indascii117strial loft bascii117ildings eligible to be converted to live-in workshops for artists. 'Yoascii117 can either be a citizen or a reporter, Cheyfitz. Take yoascii117r choice!' Lascii117edtke responded. Well, I kept on being a reporter, bascii117t the choice always strascii117ck me as artificial and wrong.
These days, Lascii117edtke's choice has been tascii117rned on its head. The new formascii117lation is that if yoascii117 want to be a citizen, yoascii117 need to be a reporter, as well.
* CEO and Chief Editorial Officer, Story Worldwide
