Journalism must rise to the occasion and FREEDOM OF THE PRESS must take priority. Reporting is not always a cordial matter. As professionals you get to know that there is a job to be done - reporting the truth and doing what is right for the time. Even within Occupy Detroit we have situations that have people opposing each other's actions and point of views. I believe many would say this is no surprise and they see it all the time. I've written without formal training as a journalist and had those with training call out what I've done as weak or ineffective reporting. I've also investigated background for stories, assembled information and brought conclusions together that matter. I've discussed position statements with others and sometimes simply written what I feel is appropriate.
NORMAL REPORTING CAN BE BLAND, OVERLOOKED, and ELICIT LITTLE RESPONSE. Factual journalism, editorial pieces, opinion pieces, and more... sometimes reporting style has to intentionally cross the boundaries and personal point of view rises. The concept of "all the news that's fit to print" can surface a problem. There's a line drawn regarding appropriate discourse and personal opinion. Some situations get VERY PERSONAL, and those personal feelings are felt by a LARGE MAJORITY. FREE Detroit - NO Consent was in many ways born from this mass consensus that the people of Detroit have something at stake and it is going to be very personal. We would like to WELCOME reporting on the website http://freedetroit.org that speaks to our mass conscious in a very personal way. There is a response to elicit and that is to have people active in how society is shaped.
Now there have been omissions here and there due to unknown facts and the story changes when you learn more of the facts. It can change DRAMATICALLY! It can unseat the entire premise of a story when you learn more depth. However sometimes that deeper understanding comes from a few sources 1) personal encounters, 2) factual information that some or all have access to. Some might dismiss personal encounters but when they are shared sentiment by large bodies of people then they hold a different weight. They become significant. One thing that social networking through services such as Facebook & Myspace offers, is a way to check in on sentiments expressed through the Internet. I've held the opinion that Internet commentary affords a faceless public, against which people behave differently than when encountering people face to face. Raw emotions left unchecked by face to face encounters happen - it can be very confrontational especially when someone stands on a "hot topic" and keeps pushing it.
NORMAL REPORTING CAN BE BLAND, OVERLOOKED, and ELICIT LITTLE RESPONSE. Factual journalism, editorial pieces, opinion pieces, and more... sometimes reporting style has to intentionally cross the boundaries and personal point of view rises. The concept of "all the news that's fit to print" can surface a problem. There's a line drawn regarding appropriate discourse and personal opinion. Some situations get VERY PERSONAL, and those personal feelings are felt by a LARGE MAJORITY. FREE Detroit - NO Consent was in many ways born from this mass consensus that the people of Detroit have something at stake and it is going to be very personal. We would like to WELCOME reporting on the website http://freedetroit.org that speaks to our mass conscious in a very personal way. There is a response to elicit and that is to have people active in how society is shaped.
Now there have been omissions here and there due to unknown facts and the story changes when you learn more of the facts. It can change DRAMATICALLY! It can unseat the entire premise of a story when you learn more depth. However sometimes that deeper understanding comes from a few sources 1) personal encounters, 2) factual information that some or all have access to. Some might dismiss personal encounters but when they are shared sentiment by large bodies of people then they hold a different weight. They become significant. One thing that social networking through services such as Facebook & Myspace offers, is a way to check in on sentiments expressed through the Internet. I've held the opinion that Internet commentary affords a faceless public, against which people behave differently than when encountering people face to face. Raw emotions left unchecked by face to face encounters happen - it can be very confrontational especially when someone stands on a "hot topic" and keeps pushing it.
Opinion piece by Stephen Boyle, writers are welcome and your comments are welcome - please contact me if interested in writing for FREE Detroit.
We would require you to attend our meetings so we get to know you.
We would require you to attend our meetings so we get to know you.
Articles of reference & interest
- Freep flap, Metro Times Apr 25
- A Walk Down Memory Lane, Voice of Detroit Apr 18
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