Journalism During Turbulent Times

The spread of the COVID-19 has touched everyones lives in one way or another. Mask mandates, social distancing procedures, sanitizing stations, all of these new ways of life would sound completely foreign to someone in 2019. Journalism, however, has kept everyone informed on how to endure these changes every step of the way.

Basic journalistic values remain unchanged from the beginning of this pandemic. Journalists still seek to spread fair, complete and truthful stories to the population who depends on that information. Although, the basic journalistic procedures for gathering information and conducting interviews has changed significantly. Journalists must be more considerate about how they should go about interacting with their sources, switching from spontaneous face to face interviews with people in crowded public areas to maybe a pre-arranged, socially distanced, masked interview with a source. Even though there are now barriers keeping them from working the way they are used to for many years, Journalists still have a responsibility (provided they aren’t at risk themselves) to bring their audiences the truth.

Even though journalists may be covering these stories from a remote distance, journalists still should refrain from putting any of their experiences or biases into the story. I am sure that bias and interests will draw a reporter towards one story or another, but it’s of the most importance that journalists make sure to cover the whole story without inserting their own stance or taking sides.

Journalist Joey Peters did a great job of all of these things in article he wrote ‘A University of Minnesota medical student apparently vandalized the George Floyd memorial. His health care classmates want him expelled.’. This article is an example of quality journalism that covered a lot of important issues. Peters did not insert himself and his values into the story but simply shared the facts of what transpired and how people felt about it.