Redefining What’s “Fit to Print”

Introduction

All the news that’s fit to print,” the motto of the New York Times since 1896, plays with the word fit, asserting that a news story must be newsworthy and must not exceed the limits of the printed page. The increase in online news consumption, however, challenges both meanings of the word fit, allowing producers and consumers alike to rethink who decides which topics are worth covering and how extensive that coverage should be. Any cultural shift usually means that something is lost, but in this case there are clear gains. The shift from print to online news provides unprecedented opportunities for readers to become more engaged with the news, to hold journalists accountable, and to participate as producers, not simply as consumers. Guided by journalism’s code of ethics—accuracy, objectivity, and fairness—print news reporters have gathered and delivered stories according to what editors decide is fit for their readers. Except for op-ed pages and letters to the editor, print news has traditionally had a one-sided relationship with its readers. The print news media’s reputation for objective reporting has been held up as “a stop sign” for readers, sending a clear message that no further inquiry is necessary (Weinberger). With the rise of the Internet, however, this model has been criticized by journalists.

such as Dan Gillmor, founder of the Center for Citizen Media, who argues that traditional print journalism treats “news as a lecture,” whereas online news is “more of a conversation” (xxiv). Print news arrives on the doorstep every morning as a fully formed lecture, a product created without participation from its readership. By contrast, online news invites readers to participate in a collaborative process—to question and even help produce the content. One of the most important advantages online news offers over print news is the presence of built-in hyperlinks, which carry readers from one electronic document to another. If readers are curious about the definition of a term, the roots of a story, or other perspectives on a topic, links provide a path. Links help readers become more critical consumers of information by engaging them in a totally new way. For instance, the link embedded in the story “Window into Fed Debate over a Crucial Program” (Healy) allows readers to find out more about the trends in consumer spending and to check the journalist’s handling of an original source (see Fig. 1).

This kind of link gives readers the opportunity to conduct their own evaluation of the evidence and verify the journalist’s claims. Links provide a kind of transparency impossible in print because they allow readers to see through online news to the “sources, disagreements, and the personal assumptions and values” that may have influenced a news story (Weinberger). The International Center for Media and the Public Agenda underscores the importance of news organizations letting “customers in on the often tightly held little secrets of journalism.” To do so, they suggest, will lead to “accountability and accountability leads to such as Dan Gillmor, founder of the Center for Citizen Media, who argues that traditional print journalism treats “news as a lecture,” whereas online news is “more of a conversation” (xxiv). Print news arrives on the doorstep every morning as a fully formed lecture, a product created without participation from its readership. By contrast, online news invites readers to participate in a collaborative process—to question and even help produce the content.

One of the most important advantages online news offers over print news is the presence of built-in hyperlinks, which carry readers from one electronic document to another. If readers are curious about the definition of a term, the roots of a story, or other perspectives on a topic, links provide a path. Links help readers become more critical consumers of information by engaging them in a totally new way. For instance, the link embedded in the story “Window into Fed Debate over a Crucial Program” (Healy) allows readers to find out more about the trends in consumer spending and to check the journalist’s handling of an original source (see Fig. 1). This kind of link gives readers the opportunity to conduct their own evaluation of the evidence and verify the journalist’s claims. Links provide a kind of transparency impossible in print because they allow readers to see through online news to the “sources, disagreements, and the personal assumptions and values” that may have influenced a news story (Weinberger).

The International Center for Media and the Public Agenda underscores the importance of news organizations letting “customers in on the often tightly held little secrets of journalism.” To do so, they suggest, will lead to “accountability and accountability leads to credibility” (“Openness”). These tools alone don’t guarantee that news producers will be responsible and trustworthy, but they encourage an open and transparent environment that benefits news consumers. Not only has technology allowed readers to become more critical news consumers, but it also has helped some to become news producers. The Web gives ordinary people the power to report on the day’s events. Anyone with an Internet connection can publish on blogs and Web sites, engage in online discussion forums, and contribute video and audio recordings. Citizen journalists with laptops, cell phones, and digital camcorders have become news producers alongside large news organizations. Not everyone embraces the spread of unregulated news reporting online.

Critics point out that citizen journalists are not necessarily trained to be fair or ethical, for example, nor are they subject to editorial oversight. Acknowledging that citizen reporting is more immediate and experimental, critics also question its accuracy and accountability: “While it has its place . . . it really isn’t journalism at all, and it opens up information flow to the strong probability of fraud and abuse. . . . Information without journalistic standards is called gossip,” writes David Hazinski in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (23A). In his book Losing the News, media specialist Alex S. Jones argues that what passes for news today is in fact “pseudo news” and is “far less reliable” than traditional print news (27). Even a supporter like Gillmor is willing to agree that citizen journalists are “nonexperts,” but he argues that they are “using technology to make a profound contribution, and a real difference” (140). Citizen reporting made a difference in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Armed with cell phones and laptops, regular citizens relayed critical news updates in a rapidly developing crisis, often before traditional journalists were even on the scene. In 2006, the enormous contributions of citizen journalists were recognized when the New Orleans Times-Picayune received the Pulitzer Prize in public service for its online coverage—largely citizen-generated—of Hurricane Katrina. In recognizing the paper ’s “meritorious public service,” the Pulitzer Prize board credited the newspaper ’s blog for “heroic, multi-faceted coverage of [the storm] and its aftermath” (“2006 Pulitzer ”).

Conclusion

Writing for the Online Journalism Review, Mark Glaser emphasizes the role that blog updates played in saving storm victims’ lives. Further, he calls the Times-Picayune ’s partnership with citizen journalists a “watershed for online journalism.” The Internet has enabled consumers to participate in a new way in reading, questioning, interpreting, and reporting the news. Decisions about appropriate content and coverage are no longer exclusively in the hands of news editors. Ordinary citizens now have a meaningful voice in the conversation—a hand in deciding what ’s “fit to print.” Some skeptics worry about the apparent free-for-all and loss of tradition. But the expanding definition of news provides opportunities for consumers to be more engaged with events in their communities, their nations, and the world.