Going by Gertrude

In embarking us on this project together, Amy's put her finger on a key point: "Good journalism mainly springs from asking good questions."

And while I'm terminally sunny about most things, I've always turned to a famed deathbed for inspiration on that one. Gertrude Stein, in her last moment, asked companion Alice B. Toklas, "What is the answer?" When Toklas remained silent, Stein added: "In that case, what is the question?"

That’s worth pondering for journalists and citizen journalists alike...

Sure, we want answers. But in this complicated, uncertain world, often the closest we can come to getting an answer is asking the right question. It’s certainly one of the most basic things we journalists do -- you know, "who-what-where-when-why-and-how."

But why assume working journalists are the only ones who can take on that critical task? Hasn't it been your experience that ordinary folk (not to mention those with some expertise or other) can ask questions as smart and penetrating as any reasonably trained journalist? Sometimes they even do it better, coming straight at an issue when we professionals might dance around it with our carefully cultivated sources.

So while I've always thought the role of the journalist was a very special one, I hope with this project to consider how thin the lines really might be between the working journalist and the citizen journalist. So to paraphrase Gertrude's famous "rose is a rose" line, maybe “a journalist is a journalist is a journalist is a journalist.”

Comments

[David Biello]

Looks great and a very interesting idea. My whole concern with
blogging (and citizen journalism by extension) is who checks the bloggers for accuracy? I know that there's that whole everybody watching everybody else thing (so if somebody posted some misinformation about Skeeter Hell it would get jumped on) but doesn't that seem a little Orwellian? Anyway, I'll be curious to see how that plays out on your site (and all the others) going forward.

Now, I'm off to Idaho where my Internet will be spotty so if you respond expect my end of the witty repartee to be somewhat lagging. - db

[Mark Tosczak]

We might as well ask who checks the journalists for accuracy. I'm a pro journalists (and blogger on the side), and I think the systems we have in professional journalism have lots of holes in them where misguided, lazy and occasionally dishonest reporting can too easily slip through. I'm not sure blogs are a whole lot worse in this regard, and I suspect the culture of the blogosphere is, on balance, more open to fact-checking by an audience of engaged readers.

[Adam Glenn]

David's question is that whole 'who's watching the watchdog?' thing, isn't it? A good point.

In most newsrooms I've been in, we've always drummed it into reporters that accuracy starts with them. If they fudge on the information, then all the editorial backup systems we may have in place (or may not, as Mark points out), may do little to stop bad information from getting through. It's always been a kind of honor system, and the reporters who play fast and loose eventually get found out. Now, we'll have to drum that into the new corps of citizen journalists.

But what's the safety net? Well, guess what, we've not only got the bloggers watching the mass media, but also the mass media starting to watch the bloggers, not to mention the bloggers watching the bloggers, and the general reader checking up on each of them -- all in real time.

The bad apples should get found and hounded out pretty quickly, before too many folks rely on misinformation to do something nasty, like buy a wacky stock or a quacky cure. I don't think that's Orwellian, I just think it's sound practice for a world where information is currency.

[Amy Gahran]

Yes, fact-checking, honor, and a commitment to accuracy are all important parts of journalism.

However, any checks-and-balances system has holes in it and is prone to occasional collapse. After all, every New York Times has its Jayson Blair. And even excellent professional reporters and editors occasionally make mistakes, get fooled, get lazy, or have axes to grind.

That's not to say that skills don't matter. Fact-checking is definitely an important skill set. You don't have to work in a newsroom or attend j-school to learn it, however.

Here's one book to get you started: "The Fact Checker's Bible"

http://tinyurl.com/8nvmw

- Amy Gahran
I, Reporter