Censorship for the 21st Century
Even if you’ve been a journalist for just several months, you’ve probably noticed how tight-lipped folks in government are when you come knocking. “I’m sorry, but I’m not authorized to speak to the press,” says one bureaucrat. “Could you submit your questions in writing?” says another. It doesn’t matter if you are calling about retirement benefits for city employees or the Christmas gift drive, the trend in government and corporate offices is to funnel media requests to the designated flak who will use carefully crafted talking points with just the right amount of spin on them, to give you the answers you are seeking. Of course, in their words, it’s about the message being “appropriately positioned.”
I am sure people have always feared the “fourth estate,” but the past decade has seen an increase in the barriers companies, government departments and even nonprofits put up between themselves and journalists. Gone are the days when a reporter can just saunter into the police department and shoot the shit with the workers. Now there are “public information officers” whose job is to dole out sanitized versions of the facts to reporters. Very often, these PIOs don’t even do that, as I’ve experienced time and time again with the New York Police Department. But when I’ve pointed out that if they don’t speak to me, it will make them look bad, they just take down my number and promise to pass it along. The message they are sending–loud and clear–is I JUST DON’T CARE.
As the next generation of journalists, it’s up to us to educate government officials, corporate hacks and everyone else that it’s actually in their interest to talk to us and explain their side of things. Most journalists aren’t out to get their sources, but simply want to report what’s happening. Unfortunately, that’s a point that seems to lost on most people.
What do you think? Can journalists do anything to counter the trend of companies and government creating strict procedures about speaking with the press? Is it a matter of making friends with the people you want to become your sources? Is it a matter of bidding your time, until hesitant sources begin to trust you?