Words of the great Edward R. Murrow

How should journalists treat their audiences?

"You are supposed to describe things in terms that make sense to a truck driver without insulting the intelligence of a professor." -- Edward R. Murrow.


These were the words of the late Murrow, perhaps the greatest broadcast journalist in U.S. history. Thanks to former CBS News Correspondent Marvin Kalb, a National Press Club member, for sharing this wisdom that came from the man who hired him years ago.

Journalists today would do well to follow Murrow's advice. That's true whether they're serving print, online, broadcast or cable consumers of news.

Here's archived video from "The Kalb Report" on "Why Murrow Matters."
Why Murrow Matters In The Digital Age

10 things for aspiring journalists and communications pros to consider

5 things I wish someone had told me:

1.     The pace of change will accelerate and show no sign of easing. That includes many aspects of society and experience such as politics, technology, economies, demographics and climate.

2.      You must set your own high standards and must be your own critic and fan. While you should ask for and be ready to accept constructive criticism, managers or others might not have the time to give a full accounting of their assessment of you.   

3.      Basic skills such as writing and storytelling are absolutely critical.  Technology and skill sets will change, but core abilities will anchor you amid change.

4.      Many journalists do very well beginning as generalists and that is appropriate for someone starting out. Later, specialization may help your career, whether differentiated by beat or location.  If you can afford to be a freelancer, consider that option.

5.      Journalism and professional communications careers can be very rewarding, financially and personally. They can also take a toll on family and individuals. Most of the people who’ve gone into the professions will say it was worth the effort.

5 action items for you:

1.     Begin immediately to create and build a solid portfolio for display online. Ideally it crosses platforms, such as text and video. Have you learned to do all you can? What about excellent photography and videography, lighting, SEO, interviewing and presentation skills such as on-camera?

2.    Write, blog and write again.  When you are blogging, consider having a content partner or mentor who can give it a second look and edit before you publish. If you publish material containing errors, that sets you back.

3.      HR professionals say LinkedIn is the primary online tool they are using for prospective employees. Don't be shy about asking for recommendations and get specific on your skills and accomplishments.

4.     Think about being a role model, including with your digital identity and in your professional interactions with nearly everyone.  Are your public photos on Facebook a potential embarrassment? In interactions, how you treat people matters, whether in an office or in the field. 

5.     Your network is what sustains and propels you. No matter where you are located at any given time, set up meetings and maintain connections over time. Work to put yourself in a position so you can take advantage of every possible opportunity to learn, fail and succeed again.

Story Pitches: Some Are Over the Plate, Some Not

Between hundreds of emails clogging my in-box every day, countless telephone pitches and personal interactions over the course of a career, I've had all kinds of experiences with professional communicators. Most have been positive, but a few stand out as remarkable, and not in a good way. We're glad to hear story ideas, or pitches, but some left something to be desired. This is about process, not particular stories.

One should be quick to add that there are excellent actors and poor performers in every profession, including journalism. So, this isn't an exercise in bashing. People of all experience levels and capabilities are trying to get stories in front of journalists.

A few of the "greatest misses” since these were definitely not “greatest hits":

1) "Your competitor is reporting"... or "a newspaper is running a story today that"...

This is almost always a non-starter. If one of our rivals has gotten an exclusive or has done an enterprise story, more often than not we're going to pass. Some entities think it is worth the risk to hand a story to another shop. If that happens, we don't want to be eating news leftovers.  We want the exclusive. If that isn't possible, we want to get it first.

2) "You guys ran a story"... If we already have the story, why are you pitching us? Now, it could be that there's another angle that advances or, or adds a broadcast element to a story running in print. But that's not what people are typically offering.

3) "I have a guest idea for your show", or a possible "article". We don't expect that everyone understands exactly what we do, but a minimal amount of research or use of that “Internet” search thing can provide a lot of useful information. Fact is, I don't have a "show" and my work primarily shows up on broadcast/online platforms, such as radio or video. Starting a conversation based on a faulty premise isn't helpful.  If you need to talk with a colleague elsewhere in the organization, we can help get you to that person.

4)“Hi, Mark, how was your weekend. Is it hot there?” Answering my phone, someone I don't know starts off failing to identify themselves or asks a personal question. Since I don't work at a call center, I will often stop them and ask who is calling. We usually can tell within 10 to 20 seconds whether a pitch is worth pursuing. Since time is usually precious, is it best for us to work through the pitch ASAP. Some folks will be argumentative once we've figured the story isn't a good fit.  Not productive.

5) You'll need to register on our website before we tell you who to contact in our organization. Please don't require us to create a username and password on your Internet site to allow us get a media contact. We often need quick access to information and to get to the people who can facilitate it. There are few things more frustrating than organizations that refuse to put their media contacts on the public or newsroom side of their site. So, we're not enthusiastic about trying to remember yet another username/password combination. Basic contact information, including name, email and cell phone number, should be part of any news release.

6) We sent you a news release, but we're not available to respond to any possible follow-up. Any number of times we've been sent news releases with contact information that isn't relevant when the release goes live. The person is on vacation or their voice mail is full.What's the use in sending the release out then?

7) We won't be able to connect you with an example of a person cited in the news release. We were told that a majority of members of a trade organization shared a specific concern about the economic outlook. Being in broadcast news, I followed up to ask if they could connect us with one of those people to go on camera. Amazingly, they told us several times in the following days that no one could be provided. It is counterproductive to put out a release stating something supposedly widely believed and then being unable to provide a single person who can stand behind or verify the claim. How about anticipating that broadcast and other journalism organizations will naturally ask for an individual example and have people ready to go at a reasonable time? 

Finally, there are many, many examples of stellar communications professionals, some of whom I count among my very good friends. They don't need to be told about any of this. 

In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm blessed to have been married for more than 20 years to a professional communicator. So, I raise these examples with the goal of engaging in a discussion how the process can work better.

What Really Happened When The Supreme Court Decision On Health Care Was Announced and How Journalists Responded

The Supreme Court's 2012 decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly referred as "Obamacare", will be studied by historians and legal experts for years.  Not only was it a watershed moment in politics and for the law as well, it turned out to be a dramatic day for the practice of journalism.  The latter is worth investigating, particularly for those of us either working in news, or those who are interested in knowing more about what happens behind-the-scenes.

As is widely known by now, there were some notable mistakes made in the initial reporting of the complicated decision. 

One of the best, in-depth treatments of how the coverage was managed has been produced by the respected SCOTUSblog. The blog was followed closely for its own coverage of the decision, as you can see from the following link. The account runs more than 7,000 words.

Not only does this very well-detailed account go into what was happening with reporters and others working the story, it looks inside the inner workings of the White House and the court itself.  The event may also have been important to affirming the value of Internet-only journalism at a time when newspapers and other outlets are continuing to struggle with the business challenges of the digital transition. 

Here's the detailed entry, titled "We're getting wildly differing assessments".

World Press Freedom Day -- Not Just For Journalists

As a journalist I have my own special reasons to care about the issue of press freedom.  But so does should every freedom-loving individual on our planet. Americans enjoy the fruits of a well-conceived system of law and values, won through sacrifices including many wars and constant vigilance. Among the most necessary institutions which must help us to sustain our precious liberty is a free press.

So, I bring World Press Freedom Day to your attention. It is proclaimed by the United Nations and supported by the U.S. government, celebrated by many organizations and professional journalists. This year's events are being held in Tunis, where the Arab Spring is thought to have been inspired by a young street vendor who set himself on fire in late 2010. Supporting press freedom celebrations or events are being held elsewhere around the world, including at the National Press Club. 

I had the honor of presiding at the key World Press Freedom Prize ceremony last year at the National Press Club. Both on that day and ever since, hearing first-hand accounts from journalists who suffered oppression or torture have touched me to my core, as would any compelling tale of human suffering.  You can read about one of those stories, about Mukesh from Pakistan, here.

Take a moment to think about where we stand at the moment.  Reporters Without Borders counts 21 journalists killed while doing their job so far this year. Some 161 have been imprisoned.

The Committee To Protect Journalists is drawing attention to countries that are the worst offending  censors. Perhaps surprising to some is the worst censor listed, Eritrea in Africa, where the last accredited foreign journalist was expelled in 2007.  Better known are the repressive conditions in North Korea, number-two on the list. Others cited as top censoring offenders include Syria, Iran and Cuba. China gets the equivalent of a dishonorable mention.

Also on this day, it is time to think about journalists who have died in the line of duty, both recently and long ago.  CPJ says there have been more than 900 such deaths since 1992, including 692 murdered over those 20 years. Three of the journalists murdered just this year have been in Somalia.

All lives are precious, of course. But by monitoring how journalists fare, we can also get a sense how well all people are engaging in their own treasured pursuits of life, liberty and happiness, or all too often, how they are not.