Australian journalists stink like the Brits

News of the World might be the lightning rod for all that is wrong with British journalism but the stench around Australian journalists is just as strong if public opinion is anything to go by.

We’re surely a smug lot given our public standing. And thin-skinned too.

The latest data from Roy Morgan in May puts newspaper journalists just above car salesmen, real estate agents and wait for it, “advertising people”, in how the public rates professions for “integrity and honesty”. Yep, newspaper journalists are third from the bottom on these attributes and what’s worse, TV journalists and talkback radio jocks have more cred.

Let’s start with thin-skinned. For a profession that thrives on dishing out criticism and creating tension, very rarely can we take what we give. We often get things wrong, rarely admit it and are frequently repelled by the idea that we should publicly acknowledge our mistakes and publicly document corrections. It does happen but only reluctantly. Transparency is really meant for others.

I’ve spent 17 years working on various newspapers – The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian Financial Review and The New Zealand Herald – and there is a common thread across all of them. First, there’s an underlying tendency to write for colleagues and editors, not the reader. The tone and angle of a story is often about ensuring colleagues and journalist competitors deem it a “good story”. That will often mean creating tension and conflict where there might not be any. It’s partly why the “news” is so often negative when there might be positive angles in abundance.

The culture on a newspaper’s editorial floor is one where we must create drama and remain cynical. Any praise or positivity is viewed as “soft” by the collective “we”. There are exceptions, of course, in sporting stories, music, celebrities and film. But that can and does turn on a dime. To be fair, all my copy has circled the business pages but it’s no different there.

Journalists also hunt in packs. The press gallery in politics is a classic. There is an intangible force which herds the press gallery in the same direction. The mandate then simply becomes to outdo each other on beating up the latest nuance.

Labor’s former finance minister, Lindsay Tanner, made this point rather well earlier this week in The Australian. Tanner in his latest book, Sideshow, dumbing down democracy, said media “routinely trivialises and distorts political content so much that it bears little connection with reality”. Too true. His closing argument this week was that while politicians are rightly subjected to relentless criticism, “sections of the media can be very quick to cry foul when they get the same treatment. It’s time to take a good hard look at themselves.” Hear, hear, Mr Tanner.

There are many solid counter arguments as to why journalists carry themselves as they do but in the end there is plenty of fodder for us to take stock.

With all the pressure that is bearing down on the profession, one would think there might spring some reflection and humility amongst journalism’s practitioners. Rather, the editorial culture persists, usually defensively, in viewing itself as untouchable and infallible – all those arrogant traits journalists typically despise in others.

“Sometimes the public hate us for good reason,” Professor Alan Knight, the head of journalism at UTS in Sydney told me the other day. “Sometimes they hate us because we tell the truth. There is also a cultural shift going on where people are demanding more entertainment. Look at Fox News in the US. It’s entertainment and prejudice dressed up as news and current affairs. Some journalists have played along with that. But not everyone is doing a poor job.”

Very true. Journalism’s defenders rightly argue telling the truth often means you’re not liked. But there is also a very powerful old adage which still rings true too often - never let the truth get in the way of a good story. There’s plenty of that going on in Australian journalism. Perhaps that’s why we’re so highly (un)rated? Anyway, enough of this. On to the next yarn with all the balance I can muster.