Can you handle the truth?

Truth and objectivity are values which should be pertinent to journalism, but it seems the doctrine of truth on which journalism was founded is beginning to crumble. It seems the increasing prominence of public relations in the news room may be a cause of this problem.

Most journalists rely heavily on media releases as their source for a story and with the pressure to feed the 24 hour news cycle and meet tighter deadlines, it is no wonder an increasing number of published news stories lack investigation, perspective or even truth. And this is a cause for concern to some.

The problems associated with running press releases verbatim as news is that the role of the PR person is the emphasis a particular perspective, even spinning an issue in a way that gains the journalists attention. In my experience, I’ve seen PR people make up catchy quotes, claiming them as the words of a representative for a company.

It is critical that journalists investigate the many other perspectives surrounding the issue in a press release; failure to exercise objectivity may result in the credibility of the journalist or their news organisation being jeopardised.

Now not all PR is spin, many important stories derive from press releases, and many public relation personnel perform their job ethically. It is simply problematic when journalists do not practice truth-telling and objectivity due to constraints which are arguably beyond their control.

Would things change if the demands of 24 hour news lifted? Probably not according to Nick Davies in his book Flat Earth News. Davies recounts the “horrifying” story of doctors in London selling heroin during the late 1960s. The story went global, and people couldn’t believe that medical practitioners advocating health would sell a “poison” like heroin to addicts.

Davies goes on to detail the controversy that ensued as a result, with Britain and America engaging in a “war against drugs”. The money Governments spent on trying to tackle the black markets selling heroin only exacerbated the number of addicts stealing or prostituting themselves to support their habit. Heroin was becoming such a valuable commodity in the black market that dealers were cutting the drug with other pollutants that harmed heroin-users immeasurably.

What the media never disclosed, or rather bothered to find out, was that the truth is “contrary to popular belief, heroin administered properly is a benign drug” says Davies. People are far more likely to kill themselves overdosing on paracetamol than heroin, and the most notable side effect of correctly administered heroin is constipation. Many successful career people have led long and fruitful lives as heroin addicts were administered the drug by ethically sound, well medical practitioners.

So how’s that for truth and objectivity in journalism?