By Roy Ortega
“To be persuasive we must be believable;
to be believable we must be credible;
to be credible we must be truthful.” -Edward R. Murrow
Fox News Channel CEO Rupert Murdoch's recent admission that his television network lied about the results of the 2020 presidential election affirmed what was already known. Fox pundits lie to their audience with full abandon. Worse, they lie for profit.
This reckless disregard for the truth is highly disturbing to those of us who spent our journalism careers adhering strictly to a sacred set of principles that included the following:
- Truth and Accuracy
- Independence
- Fairness and Impartiality
- Humanity
- Accountability
These principles were permanently etched into my head more than 50-years ago by my "J" school professor Dr. Al Anderson at UT-Austin. They guided every single piece of journalism I ever researched and wrote. It bothers me greatly that some news organizations routinely breach these standards in pursuit of profits. Ditching the truth to promote a political agenda never ends well. It's a lesson yet to be learned by some in our profession.
The Truth Still Matters in Journalism
When it comes to discussions about journalism, I tend to be a purist of sorts. I recall vividly how I developed my deep sense of fairness, truth and justice. In the early 1970s, the pages of every newspaper and broadcast news outlet in the world were exploding with stories involving the Watergate Scandal that eventually brought down an entire presidential administration.
Throughout coverage of the scandal, I marveled at the difficult and relentless investigative work of two young newspaper reporters. Washington Post Reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward solidly influenced my decision to pursue a career in news. It was their high ethical standards in pursuit of the truth and their determination to hold high government officials accountable to the American people that convinced me I should seek a career in journalism. I concluded early on that without honest journalism, our democracy could become imperiled.
I chose broadcast journalism over print journalism for one reason only: I felt my writing skills at the time were more favorably suited for TV and radio. Since high school, I had worked at several radio stations and felt comfortable behind a microphone. Either way, I regarded ethics in journalism to be sacred. During a 42-year journalism career, I worked hard to stick to those principles. I even lost a job once when a misguided employer demanded I breach my ethics to accommodate a station client's financial interest. Certainly, I felt no regrets for the career I chose.
Fox News Isn't News
In today's world, I find myself wondering how a major news organization is able to stay viable while lying so fully and so persistently to its audience. Honestly, I have never heard those principles used to describe the style of journalism performed at Fox. Most of what they pass off as mainstream journalism in reality fits into the category of what we used to call "advocacy" journalism. That is to say, journalism that promotes a particular agenda, product or idea not necessarily connected to actual coverage of news and current affairs.
Disturbingly, Fox news seems to have changed the very definition of "news." In their world, "news" is used interchangeably with "opinion." In my world, they are not the same thing. Fox News is not news. It is opinion-based commentary. The question is, how did they get there? Who changed the meaning? And why?
These are questions that embark upon an area of journalism ethics that inevitably stir up sharp feelings. They shouldn't. Truth is always the truth. It should never have been abandoned by Fox.
Your comments are always welcome. Roy Ortega may be reached at rortega54@elp.rr.com
