Take Your Journalism Back

A couple of weeks ago, CBC’s Anna Maria Tremonti received the Canadian Journalism Federation Excellence Award. She got up and gave one of the most heart-felt and arousing speeches in my recent memory.  You can view the complete transcript of her speech here  http://j-source.ca/article/anna-maria-tremontis-cjf-excellence-award-acceptance-speech-take-your-journalism-back  It is well worth a read, even if you aren’t passionate about journalism, it will inspire you.  Her message was for all of us to take our journalism back. Don’t be satisfied with lazy stories that only reply on Facebook and Twitter as sources.  Don’t be satisfied with articles that only give half the story. Ethical journalism is now more important than ever.

Now more than ever is the chance to change journalism. Journalism is not dying; it is changing. Douglas Todd, a columnist for the Vancouver Sun reported that just five years ago his job was to write an article and have an editor slap on a headline and assign it to a page. Now he must blog, manage a Twitter feed and a Facebook page, and do a podcast.  We are in an unique age where we get to decide what will happen to journalism. So in the words of Anna Maria Tremonti take your journalism back.

Anna Maria Tremonti told reporter not to be content to do stories about lost pets or celebrities. Come up with stories that matter, that effect people. Nobody can tell us what we can do.  We decide what we want to report on. Challenge the status quo.

If you ever seen an article that could have been done better, or something the media missed  tweet me using the hashtags #takeyourjournalismback. Together we can change the world, make people more informed. Take your journalism back.