‘Journalism should find a way to set its own standards’
Arnold ‘Skip’ Isaacs was in the city conducting training workshops for working journalists on various issues in particular on how to report/cover elections — a programme sponsored by the United States Embassy in Pakistan. The News caught up with him for a fascinating chat
The recent media revolution not only means that there are a plethora of new journalists that have absolutely no experience in the field of election reporting, but also that a majority of those that were around to report previous elections did so under entirely different circumstances. With the upcoming general elections slated to be the first to be held in Pakistan amidst a ubiquitous and omnipresent media, the visit of seasoned journalist Arnold ‘Skip’ Isaacs bears more significance.
Upon being informed of this weighty burden and asked to point to the difference between election and regular reporting, Skip, a Harvard graduate in History, was a touch reserved. “I don’t think the basic principles are different…find something out and tell people about it… it’s not that complicated.” However, he then added: “I suppose of all journalism this (election reporting) is closest to the heart of all journalists… and the role they play in the political life of the country… journalism is the source of all the knowledge that voters will use to come to a decision.” Clearly, there is a difference — at least in responsibility and consequences.
Of course, during the conversation, the topic that was bound to, and eventually did, come up was the recent clampdown on the media by the government — more specifically the banning of television news channels and the increased restriction on the print media. “I guess that the thing you can say about Pakistan is that you’re in the middle of conducting an experiment… How successful can a government, or anyone, be in restricting the flow of information?” he questioned rhetorically, “We’ll find out,” he said, “We don’t know how long this blackout is going to last… or how things are going to unfold.”
The justification given for this move, as most of us must know, was that the media had become increasingly irresponsible and speculative and had, hence, created panic among the people. Skip had a host of interesting things to say, which, more importantly, were largely objective and apolitical. “I don’t think it (these reasons) justifies official suppression of free speech… you can’t only protect useful and responsible speech… if you’re going to protect free speech, then you also have to protect illogical, irresponsible speech.” “I would never accept that as a justification for censorship… journalism should find a way to set its own standards.”
While he did say that he was, “very critical of ‘blah, blah, blah’… endless commentary,” he was quite clear in his support for the freedom of press. Skip was of the view that it was the responsibility of the media itself to come to an understanding regarding acceptable standards and codes of conduct and that it’s not for the state to impose these standards. “I’m really impressed with the coverage I’ve seen in the English language dailies (in Pakistan) about the emergency,” he said “it has been professional, courageous.”
The conversation with the seasoned journalist also delved into the relationship between media and politics. “The media should try, I don’t know if it can completely succeed, but it should try, to not be manipulated by politicians… on the other hand, we’re here to tell people about who they are and what they doÂ… that’s our job. We inform the people about their character, their experience. We’re not only their mouth piece, but to some extent we function as their mouthpiece.”
Speaking of his experience with the US media and politics, he did say that things can get out of hand easily. “One problem we haven’t solved (which I donÂ’t think is an ideal situation when it happens) is when the media becomes a mega phone, sort of magnifiesÂ…. I guess this is a question you have to try to answer in every particular story… my motive (in the end) is to tell people the real story. We have to be careful reporting accusations, and we ought to make more efforts to report the evidence.”
A question was put forward to Isaacs regarding how much of a difference a journalist can make in changing society. “I may hope that some story will produce a result — but that’s somebody else’s responsibility, not mine.” The job of the journalist is to report something; the onus to act on that lies with other segments of society, he said. “I’m going to do my job the same way whether it has a result or not.”
Expanding on the conducting of workshops in Pakistan regarding election reporting, Isaacs said that it was a part of the post Cold War effort to promote and support an independent media in new democracies. Quite a number of programmes were introduced by both the private and governmental sectors in the first world to train sections of society in the new democracies that were essential for the existence of a properly functioning democratic system. “The theme of the workshop, and I guess thatÂ’s also my goal, is that reporting elections is about and for citizens not about and for politicians… we have to report the contest… but when we’re doing it, we’re representing the voters.” “I try to acquaint them (journalists) with valid ideas…I think I just strengthen ideas… not create them.”
How effective is it all? “I wish I had a fair answer, not only just for you but for myself. But how do you know what the effect is?” said Isaacs “In most cases it isn’t something you can see or measure… how can you measure what has affected your professional accomplishments?”
Isaacs has conducted training in more than a dozen countries, working with both professional journalists and journalism students. Training programmes have included both basic reporting and writing and specialised topics such as reporting elections, investigative reporting, feature reporting.
Source: The News
Date:11/13/2007
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