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What Does it Mean to be a Journalist, Anyway?
When old ugly fat people get popular,
Lauren Jones is going to be out of luck.
I promise to be a gracious winner.
Take blogging, for instance. I blog all the time. I like it. It is writing about things I care about -- reporting it to others. I believe that makes me a journalist. Some folks don't think so. They feel that you need a expensive degree and some sort of accreditation. These are usually the people who have already paid for an expensive degree and some sort of accreditation, however, so their views are somewhat suspect.
Looks like Model Lauren Jones is on my side in this. The model is going to be a local newscast anchor in Tyler, Texas. She arrived last week in Tyler for a 30-day stint at KYTX-TV, a CBS affiliate. The job will include co-anchoring the 5 p.m. newscast each day Jones will be followed around by a 40-person Fox reality crew, who plan on making the whole thing into a TV show.
Does anybody else think it's kind of strange for one TV show to be following the stars around from a second TV show? How many levels can this thing nest? Perhaps next year Fox will bring us a reality show about how reality shows are put together. Yikes! Recursion alert!
Some folks seem to have gotten bent out of shape over it. From the article:
"One of the last sacred grounds of integrity in local television is the local newsroom, so I guess I would say I'm disappointed to see a station, much less one in our own community, that has evidently sold its integrity," said Brad Streit, vp and GM for KLTV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Tyler.
...
Adds KETK-TV GM Mike DeLier of the NBC affiliate: "I see this as a stunt, and it's a self-admitted stunt and not a journalistic endeavor."
Al Tompkins, broadcast group leader for the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., is more blunt: "It devalues the work of real journalists who are trying to do real work. It doesn't do anything to help the reputation of journalists there and around the world."
I have family in local TV news, and I've written for weekly and daily newspapers. I've written on a deadline, and I've covered a beat. I've always thought of journalism in general as a form of entertainment. I understand there is a higher ethical standard practiced by some, but heck, there are different ways of painting landscapes. People "buy" certain concepts of journalism, so the concepts work. If part of the branding for some people includes going on and on about what "real" journalists are, I see that as a form of marketing. But I'm not about to confuse marketing hype with reality.
Model Lauren Jones seems to have had a great career so far. I wish her the best of luck in her new show. The complainers should get a life.
Hi. Just wanted to say that I think you're a terrific and funny writer. Keep up the good work!