Opinion article on Journalists

For many journalists and reporters, getting that lead to a good story is huge. Some like to take advantage of a story and exploit it for personal benefits or for their company to capitalize on the issue. Some actually care for the well-being of the people/issue they are covering and truly have good intentions. Is the coverage too close? Too little? Are they focusing in the right places? Do they have a personal agenda?

I’m not sure if we will ever find out. These questions come up at a time when many journalists are running around in Haiti covering the tragic earthquake that hit. I never paid particular attention to specific reporters when it came to covering tragedies such as this. I do know that CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Soledad O’Brien, along with FOX’s Geraldo Rivera are usually the reporters on the scene, when something like this happens. While on the scene, there have been 200,000 people identified as dead and 300,000 injured.


In a way I’m pessimistic, I truly believe that while yes, these reporters care, they also want to be the one known for getting that “exclusive” coverage or great story. I find myself in the middle on this subject. Although most reporters are worried about their reputation, I do know that reporters like Anderson Cooper are genuinely concerned with the Haiti and the victims. There is a clip on the Internet where Cooper is in the middle of reporting and he drops what he is doing to aid a young boy who was struck in the head by a rock that was intended for looters. Cooper probably didn’t help that much, but he did what he could and he didn’t have to. I’m happy to see him do such a thing but I don’t know if every reporter, given the opportunity would have acted the same way.


I think that when it comes down to it, more reporters actually care, but at the same time, in the back of their mind they are always thinking about the next story or somehow putting the stamp of their network on a story. I mean that is what makes them great reporters and they are obviously where they are today for that reason, getting great stories and benefiting their company they work for. I think with Haiti, the coverage is not too little, the reporters are doing a great job down there capturing lasting images and stories but it is a little close. As a reporter, I would be nervous because it is very dangerous right now, but that’s why Cooper, O’Brien, and Rivera were hired. They are willing to put themselves out there in order to gain good coverage. To me that makes a good reporter. At the same time I think they also want to be known for that.

It really is hard to tell, whether reporters have a hidden agenda. I wonder if they are doing it to better their names or if they actually care? I think it has to be a little bit of both. As a reporter you have to create a name for yourself and a reputation, but if a reporter didn’t care at all, then why even report news? So, I believe it has to fall somewhere in the middle and if we didn’t have this coverage, we wouldn’t know much either. I doubt we will ever really know the true agenda behind a good reporter.