Category: News

Discover the World of Communication students sat in on a question and answer session Wednesday with some of Bloomberg’s top staff at the company’s Washington D.C. headquarters.

Students had the opportunity to meet writers, editors and analysts to find out about their background in journalism.

Margaret Talev welcomed the group with a tour of the building which started on the television floor and then proceeded to the newsroom. After the tour, students were taken to a board room to meet the staff.

As Talev stressed the importance of making connections, long-time friend and colleague, Al Hunt entered the room. Hunt spent 39 years at The Wall Street Journal and then joined the Bloomberg team 10 years ago.

Students questioned him about the triumphs and tribulations of his career.

He revealed covering business stories during the first year of his career was most difficult for him because of their complexity. He went on to cover taxes and ultimately politics.

“I have a confession; I like politicians,” said Hunt, rousing a laugh from his audience. Hunt finds taxes most fascinating because of their complicated nature; he likes to know “who gets what.”

Despite coming from various backgrounds, all of the journalists at Bloomberg can agree that the world of journalism is changing. The practice has transformed drastically since they began and with be completely different when the students pursue it as a career. But that shouldn’t discourage hopeful reporters from going for it.

Hunt told the story of how he originally started off as a journalist. He was speaking with James Reston and mentioned he was considering either journalism or law. Reston turned to him and said, “That’s an easy one: choose journalism.”

Back in the 11th floor conference room, Peter Russo introduced himself and explained his role in managing campaign information and lobbying data. Russo said he collects data to help tell a story.

Mike Shepard, a deputy managing editor, followed Russo. He has covered the White House, Congress and the Defense Secretary. He spent 22 years at The Washington Post and has been with Bloomberg for five.

Loren Duggan graduated with a degree from American University’s School of Public Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences. Duggan said a journalism degree is not required to be in the journalism field. He works for Bloomberg Government, looking at bills passed by Congress and summarizes them for his readers.

“You have 535 people competing for attention,” Duggan said of Congress.

Talev relayed the importance of starting from the bottom and working up. She started as a columnist for her school paper in addition to covering state politics in Florida. She later moved on to the Los Angeles Times and eventually came to the district.

By the end of the visit, students were motivated to go out and continue pursuing careers in journalism.

DWC student Madeline Jarrard, 17, said that the most important thing she got out of Wednesday’s visit was the genuine conversation she shared with the professionals.

“This is going to push me to work in an office like that some day,” Jarrard said.

It’s protected by the First Amendment. It’s helped take down a president. But, average citizens often do not know what being a reporter entails.

Some interviewed this month in Washington D.C. shared their thoughts and opinions on the topic of ethics in journalism, providing some insight about how everyday citizens see the world of U.S. media.

Journalists must be familiar with the Society of Professional Journalist’s Code of Ethics, a list of principles explaining how to ethically perform the job of a journalist, or their organization’s own code. The preamble states that “Public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy.” The four principles are to seek the truth and report it, to minimize harm, to act independently, and to be accountable.

It is required that journalists abide by these rules in order to produce reliable content for media consumers.

According to consumers, writing and publishing the truth defines ethical journalism.

Jack Gibson, 20, emphasized the importance of “providing accurate information without bias.”

Michelle Nowak, 19, however, thinks bias is permissible because it shows personality in writing. According to her, “People have different truths.”

But should these truths come out in a journalist’s writing?

People had varying opinions on what they thought of the integrity of their own sources of media.

Tony Corbel, 74, a British native, regularly uses the BBC, Britain’s publicly-financed broadcast network. He trusts the network completely and has for most of his life.

Cindy Lee, 56, thinks her stations, CNN and Fox, are “probably as reliable as you can be.”

Others, though, do not solely rely on just one or two news stations.

By having numerous news sources, one avoids the risk of getting information that is biased, people said. Many consumers use multiple sources such as BBC, CNN, The New York Times, and various social media sites. They feel that though no one can entirely avoid bias, using multiple news sources makes their news more accurate.

“Generally they’re writing to appeal to an audience because they’ve got to get viewers on the internet and people to read the papers, so I think most–not every, but most–will cater to a specific audience to some extent,” said Aaron Rowell, 23.

This practice of dramatizing stories to make them more interesting is called “yellow journalism,” and is highly scorned in media today and violates the first tenet of the SPJ Code.

“I think that is not okay,” Lee said. “I think whatever happens, we need to reflect what happens and not dramatize it.”

Journalists are constantly evaluated by each other and the public to follow the Code of Ethics. To not report the whole truth would be devastating, yet it is crucial that journalists honor the privacy and safety of their subjects.

“I guess they’re just trying to do their job,” Corbel said. “But there’s a limit to what you do.”