On public trust
published: Wednesday | June 18, 2003
THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE JUDGMENT in favour of the plaintiff in a recent libel case involving one of our local electronic media houses underscores the old journalistic principle that, journalists must: "get it first but first get it second."
The consistency in the accuracy of news reporting will ultimately determine the impact that a journalist and/or media house has made on a society over time. The trust of the public is highly critical in the field of journalism, for, if a journalist/media house has built a reputation of distrust over time he/she/it may as well leave the profession.
However, the issue of trust will not necessarily determine the commercial success of a media house for, the USA and UK are littered with several gossip tabloids that have been highly successful over time yet have a universal reputation of dishonesty. The BBC, TIME magazine and indeed, our own Daily Gleaner, have built excellent reputations over time due mainly to the consistency in the quality and accuracy of their
reporting.
Such reputations are not easily built for it takes a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication over a long period of time. In the Caribbean we can be proud of having produced journalists, particularly from the print media, who were/are on par with the best in the world.
