As a recent journalism graduate, when I tell people what I do for a living, it’s usually met with a healthy amount of derision or skepticism. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me “I don’t trust journalists” or “How can you stand to write about all the terrible things going on in the world?” (which happens more often than you’d expect), I would be significantly wealthier. Waning public trust in journalists and the state of news organizations everywhere were among the topics covered by John Owen during his lecture at Ryerson University last Wednesday night. Following Tony Burman’s talk about his experiences as the former head of Al Jazeera English and CBC News, Owen’s lecture was entitled “Hard News, Hard Times for the Media: Will the News Get Better?”; it focused on the ramifications of last year’s News International phone-hacking scandal and his experiences teaching international journalism at City University in London.
When employees of the British tabloid newspaper News of the World were found to be responsible for numerous acts of phone-hacking and police bribery last summer, the story quickly made headlines across the world. There was a massive outcry against News International and its owner Rupert Murdoch, who shut the News of the World down in July, while the Right Honourable Lord Justice Leveson launched a public inquiry into British media regulation after the scandal broke.
“For the first time, we saw editors being called to defend their digressions, explain or justify their stories,” said Owen, “This would never happen in the U.S.” Not surprisingly, public distrust in the accuracy of the newspapers grew (Owen cited one survey that suggested approximately 70% of British citizens said they didn’t trust the media) and the News of the World saga marked the end of voluntary media self-regulation. “People need to have some sort of redress to challenge the press,” said Owen, who pointed out that the Daily Mail is one of the most-read online newspapers in the world today, surpassing even the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. He told the crowd he was hopeful that the results of the Leveson Inquiry will see the formation of a committee, possibly consisting of retired editors, judges, ombudsmen and academics, to guide how news organizations acknowledge and correct mistakes.
Despite all the doom-and-gloom talk, Owen also spent a significant part of his lecture highlighting the positive trends in journalism and organizations making a difference. As a former executive producer at Al Jazeera English, he discussed his involvement in “Africa Investigates,” a series of documentaries commissioned by the network, which featured African journalists reporting undercover on cases of abuse and corruption happening across the continent. “These local journalists are putting themselves and their families at immense risk to get these stories,” said Owen. One of these documentaries captured individuals in Sierra Leonean Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana’s office accepting monetary bribes (the case is currently under investigation).
Having taught as a professor of international journalism at City University, Owen was also quick to share his opinions on how he felt post-secondary institutions should educate journalism students. He believes in a hands-on approach to teaching and says he is against “old fart talk,” referring to when reporters come into classrooms as guests and talk only about the “glory days” of journalism. Owen said that in order for the continued existence and success of journalism programs, faculty members must not be afraid of asking for funding outside of their supporters. He mentioned Columbia University’s dean of journalism Nicholas Lemann as someone who’s not afraid of going to people that loathe journalists, such as scientists, and saying, “Give me a million dollars and I promise we’ll do better.”
“I hear about how these schools offer specializations, be in print, online, etc., and I say that’s crazy,” he says, “You need to be capable of working on all platforms.” Not exactly a groundbreaking insight, but one that was refreshing to hear spoken with such honesty. As Owen pointed out, “It’s a great time to go off in the world and be a journalist somewhere.” A reality that my classmates and I might have to face sooner rather than later.
Max Mertens is a recent journalism graduate and would like people to stop asking what he is doing with his life, please and thank you. Follow him on Twitter here: @Max_Mertens.
For more, follow us on Twitter at @torontostandard, and subscribe to our newsletter.
