There’s still a need for qualified journalists
Sometime in the fall of 2017, I was returning to my office after attending a brief reception at a winery located off Eastside Road between Penticton and Okanagan Falls.
To my surprise, a home not far from Skaha Lake Park was burning. Through coincidence or journalist’s luck, I was there seconds before the fire trucks and I had my camera with me.
I was able to snap unobstructed photos for about five minutes, long before any other news outlets arrived on the scene. (Disclosure: I was not happy to see a home destroyed and the circumstances of the fire were incredibly sad.)
Falling into the trap of the “new media” — where everyone wants to report the story first — I raced back to my office, downloaded the photos and posted them to our website and social media.
Someone already beat me to the punch, complete with a live video plus photos which equalled the ones I took at the scene.
It wasn’t a rival news agency who broke the story. It was a neighbour or passer-by.
It was then I asked myself, have qualified journalists become obsolete? Can they be replaced by citizen journalists? Does society no longer want or need us?
Several years back during media question period, a young city councillor from the Okanagan whose name escapes me gleefully said he doesn’t read print media, preferring to get his news “from other sources.”
Forgive me for being self serving, but I believe the need for qualified journalists — and I don’t mean just in print — was proven this week when it was erroneously reported by a Facebook chat group that a suspect had been arrested in relation to the armed robbery at Ogo’s Ice Cream in Penticton.
The claims were false. But, people believed it, perhaps because they wanted to or maybe because they don’t know how to fact check. The individual who made the post was quoting “an incredibly reliable source.”
No source quoted equals warning bells. While undermanned police can be slow to issue statements (with RCMP, major press releases have to be translated into French and presented in both official languages), people need to be patient.
I’m not denying mainstream outlets do make mistakes. CBC Kelowna famously tweeted the death of Carlos Santana. Castanet claimed Costco was moving to West Kelowna. I was duped on a phony robbery story, even ignoring the instincts of a co-worker who sensed something didn’t add up.
We in the mainstream, however, are held to account for our mistakes, whether it’s a Page 1 correction or ultimately through the court system. Nothing, other than getting put in Facebook jail for 30 days, seems to happen to the keyboard warriors who spread false gossip that’s based, at best, on speculation.
Don’t take my word for it. In a recent Herald cover story, Global Vancouver reporter Neetu Garcha suggests treating news sources the same way you check labels in a supermarket.
“Be your own journalist, double check sources and make sure you read the story. Don’t share something on social media if you’ve only read the headline. Make it a rule that before you share something, read the full article,” Garcha said in the interview.
When I get my teeth checked, I go to a qualified dentist, not Uncle Fred with a pair of plyers. I wish people felt the same about qualified news agencies.