WE BELIEVE: The Journo Manifesto

The INDIVIDUAL is the ultimate or fundamental unit of analysis whose overall health and well-being is the measurement of the supporting society’s level of sanity. 

The INDIVIDUAL, regardless of capacity, is charged with service to self and others to maintain harmonious, fruitful, and engaging environments for individuals and society.

SOCIETY is the informal organization of individuals for the sole purpose of insuring the collective health, well-being and freedom of expression through mores and institutions.

The SOCIETY’s IMPERATIVES include: freedom>slavery; knowledge>ignorance; health>sickness; independence>dependence; solvency>destitution; order>chaos; expression>silence; cooperation>competition; engagement>isolation; entertainment>boredom.

The STATE is the formal organization of individuals at varying levels (global, national, regional, state, local) for the sole purpose of insuring individual health, well-being and freedom of expression through institutions and laws.

The STATE’s IMPERATIVES include insuring individual and collective health, the well-being and freedom of expression through responsible security, representative legislation, efficient and humane management, a fair and equitable judiciary, fair taxation, open commerce, and development and maintenance of structural resources (education, transportation, utilities [water, energy, information], medical, etc.).

That INSTITUTIONS are specific and unique, formal and informal, entities required for healthy individuals/societies/states for the purpose of fostering health, education, economics, political engagement, entertainment, media, religion, the arts and others.

That MEDIA INSTITUTIONS are independent entities organized to fulfill societal and state journalistic functions (gathering, curating, editing, producing and distributing news and information) in written, visual, audio or digital formats to provide information, entertainment, accountability, analysis, marketing avenues, and engagement.

That MEDIA THEORIES explain various press system orientations such as Authoritarianism, Libertarianism, Social Responsibility, Soviet Communism and Developmental media systems that suggest theoretical synergies that can support alternative strategies (Seibert et al).

That TYPES OF MEDIA are continuously redefined by technology, and currently include print (books, newspapers, magazines), broadcast (radio, TV), cinema, photography, Internet (websites, blogs, social media, podcasts, video), other.

That certain MEDIA RESOURCE NECESSITIES are required for sustainable media systems including revenue, content, audience, distribution, production, trained personnel in all areas, and legal support of press freedoms, and access to, and expertise in, emerging and supporting technology (Hollifield).

That JOURNALISM is the profession of gathering, curating, editing, producing and distributing news in written, visual, audio or digital format in a timely and truthful fashion.

That JOURNALISM activities (gathering, curating, editing, producing and distributing news) must be free of political, social, cultural, and economic restraints.

That ETHICAL IMPERATIVES OF JOURNALISM include truthfulness, fairness, balance, objectivity, advocacy, accountability, transparency and respect of privacy.

That LEGAL IMPERATIVES OF JOURNALISM include press access, prior restraint, defamation issues, and protection of sources.

That a JOURNALIST is person of varying levels of training engaged in various aspects (gathering, curating, editing, producing and distributing) of the journalistic process.

That a JOURNALIST is entitled to fair remuneration for his/her journalistic activities, and must be free of political, social, cultural, and economic restraints.

That a PROFESSIONAL JOURNALIST is person of varying level of training via schools or professional training engaged in various aspects (gathering, curating, editing, producing and distributing) of the journalistic process.

That a CITIZEN JOURNALIST is an untrained individual engaged, for pay or not, in various journalistic activities (gathering, curating, editing, producing and distributing).

That an INTERNET TROLL seeks to create cyber hysteria, confusion, hate and anger through coordinated cyber campaigns of irrelevant, malicious misinformation posted by anonymous individuals and groups.   

That NEWS, the product of journalism, is current (usually) information about people, events, or places distributed in timely fashion to varying sized audiences in written, visual, audio or digital format.

That FAKE NEWS is the deliberate creation, manipulation, production and distribution of misinformation for political, financial, cultural or personal gains.

That MOST NEWS is primarily produced by traditional, or legacy, newspaper newsrooms, and that other news outlets often publicize, repurpose, aggregate, contextualize, or expand on this original reporting (Holcomb).

The ROI of NEWS or return on investment, is real and reflects the measurement of the gain or loss (financial and otherwise) generated by investment of resources (human, financial, or resource capital) into any aspect of the news gathering efforts (Hamilton).

The OPPORTUNITY COST OF NEWS is the loss of potential gain from investments of resources in news efforts or investments of resources in efforts other than news.

The DECIMATION OF THE NEWSPAPER industry Is so dramatic that it has contracted more than 60% in revenue, readership and professional journalists (Pew), and is described as ‘news deserts’ (CJR) abandoned by a ‘lost generation’ of journalists (Reinardy).

The INTERNET BEHEMOTHS Google and Facebook so dominate the online advertising industry that they account for more than 60% of this year’s projected $83 billion total online advertising, with current quarterly revenues of Google’s $23 billion (up 21%) and Facebook’s $9 billion (up 47%) (WaPo).