-Caveat Lector- #9 for the 12th : Subject: The Perils of Punditry : Date: Tuesday, January 12, 1999 4:40 PM : : : From http://www.cjr.org/year/99/1/poll.asp : : January/February 1999 | Contents : : CJR Poll : The Perils of Punditry : What happens when reporters deliver opinion on TV : : : by Neil Hickey : Neil hickey is CJR's editor-at-large. Additional reporting on this story : was done by assistant editor Nicholas Stein. : : : <Picture: chart1>Question: In both print and broadcast, more and more : reporters and editors are appearing in the role of commentator and pundit. : Overall, do you think this trend improves journalism, makes it worse, or : makes little difference? More than ever, journalists are delivering not : just news but opinion as well. In print, the sacred line that traditionally : has divided editorial page (and op-ed) columns from news columns is being : blurred, as reporters add generous portions of analysis to their delivery : of the facts. That trend is most apparent in television. Many print : journalists appear on broadcast and cable channels, national and local, to : engage in punditry -- some of it enormously speculative, unsourced, and, at : times, emotional -- that they would never attempt in their customary roles : as reporters on a beat. Some are paid for that service, either by the TV : news outlets on which they appear, or by their own employers. : : To discover how journalists around the country feel about this new era of : free-wheeling opinionizing, the Columbia Journalism Review, in conjunction : with the nonprofit, nonpartisan research group Public Agenda, polled 147 : senior journalists for their views. The poll was confidential, but more : than a quarter of our respondents agreed to follow-up telephone interviews : to expand on their answers, and still others added brief, explanatory : essays to their questionnaire. Sixty-five percent of the sample work in : print journalism; 19 percent in television, and 12 percent in radio. : (Other: 4 percent) : : Surprises abounded in the poll results: : : * Almost six out of ten in the sample feel sure that journalism is made : worse when reporters and editors step out of their customary roles and : assume the mantle of broadcast pundits and commentators. Only 15 percent : think it improves journalism. : : * Fully three-quarters believe that newspeople put their credibility at : risk when they appear as commentators on television and radio talk shows. : : * More than seven out of ten think that such appearances blur the line : between factual reporting and expressing opinion. : : * Well over half fear that journalists are trivializing their craft by : trafficking in speculation and rumor when they turn up on TV and radio : shows. : : * 64 percent worry that newspeople thus assume the inappropriate role of : newsmakers, and actually influence events and public policy instead of just : reporting them. : : * But almost two-thirds say that -- in spite of those negatives -- radio : and TV shows are "more informative" when journalists go on the air to : proclaim opinions, attitudes, judgments, assessments, appraisals, : prejudices, perceptions, viewpoints, impressions, conceits, and assumptions : -- rather than simply relating facts as they know them. : : --continued-- : : : <<continued @ site link given at top>> : ~~~~~~~~~~~~ : A<>E<>R : : The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking : new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + : Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed : + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + : In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material : is distributed without charge or profit to those who have : expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information : for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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