Collecting and Presenting Facts

An important component of journalism is the collecting, analysing and presenting of facts.

Over the last 10 years there has been a shift in the way that facts are collected that have begun to change the dynamics of journalism. In the article SuperMedia: the Future as Networked Journalism (http://www.opendemocracy.net/, 10th June 2008), the article writer Charlie Beckett explains that the emergence of technologies, such as the Internet and mobile phones, has allowed the general public to have greater input on what is seen in the media. Beckett suggests that the idea of the media being centralised will change and the focus should now be on creating networks of people who share their stories. I think that this kind of shift will allow news to become both more localised and more global at the same time. News will be localised in the sense that people will write about what is happing in their area. News will be global in the sense that people can access news from around the world.

While the way facts are collected may have changed, the importance of interpretation must not be ignored. In the article Haunted by details missing in the struggle for objectivity (Peter Ellingsen, The Age, 3rd June 2009, http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/haunted-by-details-missing-in-the-struggle-for-objectivity-20090603-bvm4.html ), the writer describes being in Tiananmen Square in 1989 during the time when the soldiers were fighting against the protesters. He reflects on his mindset at the time, he was a journalist who had to present the facts, but now believes that presenting the facts has lessened the human “horror” of the event. This article also brings up the idea of perspective. For example the Chinese claimed that 300 people, mainly soldiers, had died but the Red Cross claims that 3000 people, mainly civilians, died. A journalist has to sort through these conflicting facts and create a report that remains objective. The events at Tiananmen Square at the time were seen to be an example of how the media could spread stories around the world quickly. Despite this, the Chinese government had for many years been controlling what was shown in the media. If today’s technology was available then we might have had a different experience. It would have been more like what we are currently seeing in Libya and Egypt. People showing the fighting from their view as it happened.

Presentation is important because it is what makes people pay attention and allows them to make sense of the facts. For example, there are thousands of government documents available for public viewing but who is going to bother reading them? Journalists look through these documents and piece the clues together to make a story that is easy for the reader to understand. The article Poverty by the Numbers (Paige Williams, Atlanta Magazine, 15th April 2008), describes how the people of Atlanta, the home of Martin Luther King, are still in poverty despite the efforts of King. The article manages to present the facts in an easy to understand format. A number is written in large font and then, in smaller bold font, the meaning of number is written. There is a paragraph matched to the number. There is also photographs and artwork. The benefit of this kind of layout is that the reader can gain easy access to the facts while also reading into greater detail if they wish to. The graphics reinforce the message the article is trying to convey. One picture shows a man pushing against two walls. This is a visualisation of a quote by Martin Luther King about removing the walls that separate society.