Hello, I'm Timothy Kiley, Assistant News Director at KESQ in Palm Springs. I am also one of the APTRA Board Members. Ross has asked us to add to this blog when something is on our mind.
One of the most important jobs we have as Journalists is to be a watchdog of the government. I have recently had an experience that I think is worth sharing.
When the swine flu first came out, the media covered it non stop. The pork industry got angry and started to complain... “please call it H1N1”. It became a pandemic, but the numbers were low, and few were dying. The public started to complain... “enough with the swine flu already”. Now the swine flu stories have fallen off the map. A pandemic disease was certainly not as urgent as the latest Michael Jackson update... “Breaking news: Michael Jackson is still dead.” Now while no one was watching swine flu numbers are through the roof and deaths are on the rise, but some in the government don’t want you to know.
In my daily routine I noticed an article in a local paper that announced the second swine flu death in San Bernardino County. I called the County Department of Health to confirm the information. I was given the run around for several hours and finally got the Director on the phone. He confirmed the death, but no more. I asked if they had a name or city that the person was from. He laughed and said “we can’t release that, we will cause a panic.” I asked if there was a news release. He said that they couldn’t possibly write a news release for every swine flu death. There have been two!
This is an example of how two groups of people think differently. Journalists believe that knowledge will keep you safe and aware. Some in the government believes that hiding information and the “no comment” mentality is best for the public. What do you think?
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Put simply, it's the job of journalists to seek the information that the public has a right to know and put it out into the world in an informed and responsible manner. In other words, "No Comment" doesn't suffice.
ReplyDeleteIf there are new deaths to report or new numbers, it's important information. However, what may be more important is what people can do to protect themselves. Once someone else has died, there's little to do for that person. It seems to me that many journalists and TV stations already practice this policy.
Just my thoughts.