Good Essay On Good Journalism Bad Journalism

We live in an information age, the flow of information across the globe is the life blood that sustains modern society as we know it. The media acts as the conduit through which information and news is passed on to the masses. It is, therefore, important to ensure high professional standards in the media sector. Journalists are, therefore, held to certain high standards that ensure that the public gets accurate and reliable information. This paper analyses two reports of a news story using the committee of concerned journalists fairness accuracy context and truth (FACT).
An alleged rape incident at the University of Virginia was published in the Rolling stones magazine on November nineteenth. The article contained the distressing story of junior Jackie who gave an account of being attacked and raped at a house party hosted by the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity in 2012 . This article had far reaching effects as it cast a bad light on the institution as well as the national outlook on universities. The article gave a graphic account of an attack meant as an initiation for new members Phi Kappa Psi .
This account was later discredited as further investigation proved that they had not attempted to collaborate Jackie’s version of events through contacting other parties involved in the incident. It was discovered other students held doubts over the facts of her ordeal, and later a boy she identified as one of her assailants was found not to be a member of the fraternity. With changing details of her account and investigations from media and the school the case was eventually disproved.
The magazine rushed in for the kill failing to verify the facts behind the incident, this compromises the validity of their story. It was Unfair to the Learning institution as it not only painted a poor image, it also arrived while they mourned the loss of one of their own. They chose to take the story at face value and trust in the source, with doubt coming from close friends we can only conclude that the magazine failed in its journalistic mission to search for the truth. This puts it as an instance of poor journalism according to the standards set by the committee of concerned journalists.
On November 21st of the same year an article for the university of Virginia student paper the Cavalier Daily published an article by Kelly Kaler On events regarding the same incident. They reported that the president had put in motion an investigation as to the incident, they further reported on the institutions reaction by different factions involved . They covered Phi Kappa Psi’s statement regarding doubt over the allegation and their effort to get to the bottom of it. They went further to touch on students issues about the accuracy of the alleged victims claims and dialogue over debates that erupted from the incident .
The reporter in this second story attempted to stay impartial in the matter. Kaler attempted to bring out the image as it was and limited showing the viewer the image as she saw it. She refrained from over embellishment and delivered the facts, she kept away from delivering judgment of an incident that had yet to be investigated and sought the truth. The article holds up as an example of good journalism as per the committee of concerned journalists.

Works Cited

Erdely, Sabrina Rubin. "A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA." 19 November 2014. www.rollingstone.com. web. 9 February 2015. <http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-20141119>.
Kaler, Kelly. "Sullivan Requests Phi Kappa Psi Investigation." The Cavalier Daily 21 November 2014: 1. web. 2015. <http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2014/11/sullivan-requests-phi-psi-investigation>.
Shapiro, T. Rees. "Key Elements Of Rolling Stone’S U-Va. Gang Rape Allegations In Doubt." The Washington Post 5 December 2015: 1. web. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/u-va-fraternity-to-rebut-claims-of-gang-rape-in-rolling-stone/2014/12/05/5fa5f7d2-7c91-11e4-84d4-7c896b90abdc_story.html>.