ONA Issues

This is a submission from Bob B. in response to this post.

Journalists all have opinions about the stories they cover, but when they go from objective observer to participant they should recuse themselves from covering anything remotely related to their advocacy.  Unfortunately, the line between modern journalist and advocate has becoming so blurred by both well meaning and nefarious writers (particularly in political matters) that readers no longer trust us as a profession.

Another problem is journalist as blogger - blogger as journalist conundrum. The informal nature of the internet needs to be set aside when reporting news. Traditional elements of story writing, such as spelling and grammar, must be above reproach to separate journalists from the mongrel hoards of bloggers and propaganda writers.