Week 4: Discussion One and Two Student Response and Assignment

TuesdayMay 22 at 1:48pm

Manage Discussion Entry

The first thing a journalist should do before speaking with anyone is make a list of potential sources that they can speak with. This may be a large list in which you do not speak to all sources listed but it helps when you go and investigate exactly who these individuals are. Through this process, one must find out as much as possible about their source so when they sit down with them they know what to ask when questioning them. However, the more important part here is being knowledgeable and understanding how to evaluate the credibility of the source. One thing a journalist can do is search through their sources resume looking for exaggerations and falsifications (Houston, 2009). This sounds strange but the amazing thing is people are liars and will lie about everything and anything they can.

Also, college degrees can be checked by contacting the campus registrar. The overall point being is how you cannot speak to someone and think that they are telling you the truth 100% of the time because, in fact, some will lie here and there while others will spin a spool of lies. Another thing is to check the references on someone’s resume because people, as said in the textbook will pay for others to lie about them (Houston, 2009). The list goes on and on of what you can do to check a sources credentials or credibility but what must be remembered is how important it is to do.

It is very important to understand a source’s motivation because that is another long list as described by Mike Berens. Some examples are they want to correct injustices in the world. The source is highly intelligent and looks down on the media. The source who will talk with the media but their loyalty lies with their institution. This kind of source believes they can walk around and hide all of the facts to lead the reporter in the wrong direction (Houston, 2009). Yet again, the list goes on and on of what motivates people to talk and speak with the media.

The more important part here is for a journalist to understand a source’s motivation. By doing so the journalist can then decide how to interview the source after judging their motivation. The thing is there is no definite way to judge their motivation but looking into why they want to talk is always your first step. But, the main reason to understand one’s motivations is to help your investigation because that individual might be a bad source to use. Also, knowing someone’s motivations will make you more aware of what you should and should not ask when conducting an interview.

References

Houston, B. (2009). The investigative reporter’s handbook: A guide to documents, databases and techniques (5th). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin