What’s the definition of a journalist?

A few weeks ago a reader emailed me links to several political stories and to a video allegedly showing tinkering with votes counts by a major news organization during a live broadcast.

The reader was presenting these as solid sources and credible content.

I wasn’t swayed. I considered the sources completely untrustworthy.

The stories and video were not produced by journalists, I thought.

Which raises the question, what makes one a journalist? In America, journalists aren’t licensed or accredited. There are journalism schools that offer graduate degrees, but many professionals have no academic training. And while the First Amendment guarantees freedom of “the press,” it doesn’t say who that includes.

Matthew T. Hall, the U-T’S editorial page director and national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, said this:

“I’ve had lots of discussions about this recently . ... Yes everyone with a phone can be a journalist in the sense that they can share information and images that can go viral worldwide. But true journalists have the training that allows them to approach the work with ethics, fairness and sound news judgment.’”

I regularly have firsthand experiences in media literacy in the mass media class I teach at Palomar College. Many students will view a tweet or other social media post as a legitimate, accurate source of information. They might not consider the person or organization that posted it and whether they are “journalists.”

I don’t believe a journalist requires a degree in journalism. In fact, many media professionals will tell you that it might be better to have a degree in another subject. (Jonathan Wosen, the U-T’S biotech reporter, has a doctorate in immunology from Stanford.)

Michael Rocha, the U-T’S arts editor who teaches magazine journalism at Point Loma Nazarene University, said a journalism degree is unnecessary but journalism training is.

“It teaches you about the basic tenets of the craft, such as fairness and objectivity . ... What makes a journalist is someone who, in their heart, knows it is their civic duty to tell the truth and do it in such a way that is fair and honest. If you do that, you can sleep at night knowing you’ve done your job.”

A journalist, I believe, can be a reporter for a national, long-established media organization or can be someone who just wants to report what is going on in their neighborhood. They might start a website to post news, send emails or even print news on a piece of paper and tack it up at the corner market.

The person is a journalist, in my mind, if he or she is committed to truth, accuracy and fairness, and recognizes the importance of documenting the times accurately and responsibly. Journalists understand that published words and images carry consequences. They must be transparent and accountable.

“It’s not enough to sit in front of a computer or grab a pen and call yourself a journalist,” said U-T public safety editor Dana Littlefield, a veteran crime and courts reporter who also teaches public affairs reporting at SDSU. “Someone has to be trained in journalism ethics. You might have a voice, and it can be heard, but if you’re going to call yourself a journalist, there are rules.

“We are held accountable by others — not only by your news organization, but by readers. That is a key difference.”

Journalists convey factual events accurately, said U-T Managing Editor Lora Cicalo, who teaches a class at SDSU on management of media organizations.

She acknowledged that different people have different perspectives and can interpret events differently, but “journalists should have no other mission than the search for the truth and reporting the truth.” And it should be accomplished with fairness, transparency and honesty, “including holding ourselves accountable when we make an error,” she said.

Readers, tell me what you think. What makes a “journalist”? Email me at adrian.vore@sduniontribune or readers.rep@sduniontribune.com

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U-T reporters and editors have not worked at the paper’s downtown offices since mid-march, and it’s unknown when they will return. The best way to communicate with them is via email, instead of traditional mail or phone calls.

The U-T email convention is: first name.last name@sduniontribune.com.

adrian.vore@sduniontribune.com