What are the causes of poor or lazy journalism? Are all those who work in the news media fundamentally idle? Do we need a stronger role for the traditional editor (often called the executive editor)? Or are changes in the industry making it impossible for journalists to do their job properly? Some views:
Understaffing the most common cause
Very often, poor or lazy news reporting simply comes down to huge and unrealistic news story demands in the daily job.
- Mass producers of distortion (The Guardian, 04/02/08).
- Nick Davies’ (‘Flat-Earth News’) view, at an NUJ Brussels seminar 03/07/08.
- Andrew Marr’s fears for the future of journalism.
An industry under pressure
When the industry is under pressure to cut costs, a whole area of activity (often an important one) can disappear from the audience’s radar: