How journalists do their work

Re: “When cities obstruct journalists, citizens pay the price” (Opinion, Jan. 29)

Everything in this article about denouncing the corruption, the blackmail and the stonewalling to hide the truth is to be commended.

But let’s not lose sight of the fact that the writer of this opinion piece, Pierre Craig, is president of the Quebec Professional Federation of Journalists, and its primary goal is defending the interests of journalists and liberty of the press.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t journalism consist of a “presentation of facts or occurrences with little attempt at analysis or interpretation”? (Webster online). If analysis or interpretation is done, it must be supported by professionals and credible references in the field of the subject written about. Many times, the use of vocabulary that manages to bring the reader into a specific frame of mind will twist the truth ever so slightly. Affirmations by some witness or pertinent subjects will be ignored entirely. The race between journalists to get the news out first can lead to slight or very glaring falsehoods.

The bigger the event, the more intensely it will be milked. L’Isle-Verte citizens are already sick of the media’s presence. Who can blame them, when you see the cameras swarming around them for a good quote or pic? Who questions the way these stories have been obtained?

Journalists and photographers defend themselves with the famous freedomof-the-press line. Humility is obviously not a strong point when they call themselves the “watchdogs of democracy.” How many journalists in Quebec can rightfully claim this title?

If Craig notices journalists being shut out, perhaps he should examine more closely not what is being reported, but how it is being done. Because, nowhere in his piece do we read anything about decency.