Reporters Become Part of the Story in Haiti by Steve Pendlebury
(Jan. 19) -- As a rule, journalists try to avoid getting personally involved in the stories they cover. But in the midst of such a monumental tragedy as the Haiti earthquake, professional detachment is sometimes put aside -- especially when the reporter is also a physician.Case in point: CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who's spent a week treating quake victims in between filing compelling reports about the medical catastrophe in Haiti. Gupta -- a neurosurgeon who turned down President Barack Obama's offer to become surgeon general -- has played this dual role before, in 2004 after the tsunami in Southeast Asia and the next year after the earthquake in Pakistan. While reporting on a team of Navy doctors in 2003, he was called on to perform emergency brain surgery on a wounded boy in Iraq. A few days ago, the Navy paged Dr. Gupta again. He went to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to operate on a Haitian girl who suffered a severe head injury in the quake.
Gupta told TVNewser that in such situations, he's a doctor first. But Bob Steele, the Poynter Institute's journalism values scholar, complained that Gupta crosses the line between covering the story and participating in the story too often. "It clouds the lens in terms of the independent observation and reporting," the DePauw University journalism professor told the blog DimeWars.
Of course you can add me to the list of people complaining about something but I believe my complaining about this complaint is warranted. ;)
Note: I am not complaining about the editor (Steve Pendlebury) who penned the linked and quoted article but rather those complaining about the journalistic standards of Gupta and others.
Reporters Become Part of the Story in Haiti by Steve Pendlebury
"(Jan. 19) -- As a rule, journalists try to avoid getting personally involved..."Of course you can add me to the list of people complaining about something but I believe my complaining about this complaint is warranted. ;)
Note: I am not complaining about the editor (Steve Pendlebury) who penned the linked and quoted article but rather those complaining about the...
I think most doctors with other jobs still consider themselves doctors first. The get interviewed by anchors//reporters/journalists, but they usually present the facts at hand as an "expert."
[soapbox]Those who complain would get more traction if they focused on the large number of journalists who merely parrot official press releases (both political and business) and perform superficial interviews instead of digging around for the real "muck."[/soapbox]
[soapbox]Those who complain would get more traction if they focused on the large number of journalists who merely parrot official press releases (both political and business) and perform superficial interviews instead of digging around for the real "muck."[/soapbox]
Agreed. I expect it of commentators whose job it is to editorialize but it really bothers me when I see those who are supposed to be doing the reporting doing the editorializing instead.
What I found odd about the article I lionked to is that it simply reported facts. A said B. C said D. But, it does not seem to take a stand on any of the points despite that it was written by the editor and would thus probably qualify as an editorial.
All you bastards get off my lawn!
But Bob Steele, the Poynter Institute's journalism values scholar, complained that Gupta crosses the line between covering the story and participating in the story too often. "It clouds the lens in terms of the independent observation and reporting," the DePauw University journalism professor told the blog DimeWars.
Simple. Bob Steele is a moron. No need to complain about anything.
But Bob Steele, the Poynter Institute's journalism values scholar, complained that Gupta crosses the line between covering the story and participating in the story too often. "It clouds the lens in terms of the independent observation and reporting," the DePauw University journalism professor told the blog DimeWars.Simple. Bob Steele is a moron. No need to complain about anything.
+1
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+1But Bob Steele, the Poynter Institute's journalism values scholar, complained that Gupta crosses the line between covering the story and participating in the story too often. "It clouds the lens in terms of the independent observation and reporting," the DePauw University journalism professor told the blog DimeWars.Simple. Bob Steele is a moron. No need to complain about anything.
+2