Churnalism or Journalism?

The word ‘churnalism’ is a term used which derived from author Nick Davies and if you haven’t heard of the expression, it simply describes the poor practices of modern day journalists who "churn" or recycle news stories off the wire, Internet and media releases without appropriate critical investigation.

Unfortunately Journalists no longer have the time to go out and investigate stories because it is more important to break a story first. This is why the use of the word ‘churnalism’ is increasingly being used, so how does society feel about ‘churnalism’ are they even aware that is occurring?

The creator of the word ‘churnalism' is very aware of what is occurring and he is passionate about spreading the word. Mr Davies is frustrated by how journalists are churning out media releases as how he describes ‘like sheep’ just because it is convenient.

"In this commercialised world, you have journalists who instead of being active gatherers of news - going out and finding stories and making contacts and doing funny old-fashioned things like checking facts, they've become instead passive processors of second-hand information." he said

Journalist Roy Greenslade believes that journalists have always seen themselves as superior to PR professionals, when really they equally rely on each other.

“Journalists have always felt superior to PRs. They like to see themselves as servants of the public holding aloft the banner of freedom and regard PRs as the servants of vested interests who deny the people their right to know”

In this era, with the rise of a so-called spin-doctoring class, journalists have been even more critical of their public relations counterparts.” Mr. Greeslade said

It is very common for media releases to be published almost identically in the news without any further investigation. This is due to the continual push to deliver instant news, but also due to the decreasing workforce. The role of the journalist has increased and they are required to carry out numerous jobs at a time, including; interviewing, taking photo’s, writing the story, and finally uploading to a number of mediums.

So the moral to this story is to not always trust the source you are viewing, there are always ulterior motives and you will find that some journalists won’t have time or are too lazy to carrying out the appropriate research.

However whether it be 'churnalism' or journalism, there is quality out there. Quality journalists investigate and verify their stories and as Oscar Wiled said:

“By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, journalism keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community.”

― Oscar Wilde