When the wind of change blows, some people build windbreaks, others build windmills.
Old Chinese saying
No matter if you are a journalist, an editor, a politician or just a con-cerned citizen longing for a change in your daily newsfeed, and by now you think that there is some truth in this book, you will soon be engaged in several discussions with yourself, your colleagues, editors and people both on the inside and the outside of the media.
Here is a shortlist of the booby traps of constructive news that you should be aware of.
It is not positive news. Do not misunderstand that constructive news is the same as positive news. It is not. Constructive news criti-cises traditional news journalism where you only see the world with one eye. It does not argue that it is better to just see it with the other eye. Instead, good journalism is seeing the world with both eyes and with the ambition of providing the best obtainable version of the truth in order to engage people to make up their own minds.
Do not be a politician. Do not cross the line of subjectivity. Con-structive news argues that a good story can be inspirational and that journalism can facilitate a better public debate on possible solutions to the problems facing society. But it is not the job of any professional journalist to define what the right solution is. That would be turning journalism into activism or pure politics. But just as professional jour-nalists can facilitate a public debate on problems, we can facilitate a debate on how to solve them. And just as journalists can look for bad examples, we can also look for good examples.
Critical reporting is still important. Any dictator and other op-ponent of critical watchdog journalism will misuse the idea of con-structive news and agree that there is far too much negative repor-ting and that a more constructive approach in coverage is necessary.
Constructive news is not an alternative to the important role of the press to ask critical questions to people with power on behalf of the public. It is not a substitute for investigative reporting trying to dig beneath the polished surface of corrupt politicians, cynical CEOs or powerful interest groups. Constructive news is a supplement to, and a correction of, mainstream news journalism. It argues against the growing belief that in order to avoid criticism, one must have a critical approach to any civic authority, and when meeting people, doing so with skepticism and the notion that everything is bad, negative, cor-rupt and to be mistrusted.
It is not happy news. Constructive news is neither the North Korean approach to journalism, where problems are ignored and the sky is always blue. Nor is it the cute story of puppies riding skateboards on YouTube or the heartwarming report about the firefighter bringing down the little kitten from the big tree just before the weather report.
It is not conservative. Skeptics argue that constructive news is conservative by nature, and protects society from attack from more liberal or even revolutionary groups. This is not the case. Construc-tive news is not political. It is also not political to do journalism on a better tomorrow, as long as journalism does not define what better is.
Easy for you to say. Editors and reporters working in areas of the world with fundamental problems such as wars, hunger, child morta-lity etc., will argue that constructive news is much easier to practice for news media published in welfare states, such as the Scandinavian countries where international studies consistently find the happiest populations in the world. There is some truth in that, as the idea be-hind constructive news does not encourage ignoring the coverage of important problems. And having many important problems to focus on is indeed an easy excuse for failing to find the time, resources or news space to be constructive. But the bigger the problems, the greater the need to create meaning for the public by facilitating a debate on
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Critical reporting is still important. Any dictator and other op-ponent of critical watchdog journalism will misuse the idea of con-structive news and agree that there is far too much negative repor-ting and that a more constructive approach in coverage is necessary.
Constructive news is not an alternative to the important role of the press to ask critical questions to people with power on behalf of the public. It is not a substitute for investigative reporting trying to dig beneath the polished surface of corrupt politicians, cynical CEOs or powerful interest groups. Constructive news is a supplement to, and a correction of, mainstream news journalism. It argues against the growing belief that in order to avoid criticism, one must have a critical approach to any civic authority, and when meeting people, doing so with skepticism and the notion that everything is bad, negative, cor-rupt and to be mistrusted.
It is not happy news. Constructive news is neither the North Korean approach to journalism, where problems are ignored and the sky is always blue. Nor is it the cute story of puppies riding skateboards on YouTube or the heartwarming report about the firefighter bringing down the little kitten from the big tree just before the weather report.
It is not conservative. Skeptics argue that constructive news is conservative by nature, and protects society from attack from more liberal or even revolutionary groups. This is not the case. Construc-tive news is not political. It is also not political to do journalism on a better tomorrow, as long as journalism does not define what better is.
Easy for you to say. Editors and reporters working in areas of the world with fundamental problems such as wars, hunger, child morta-lity etc., will argue that constructive news is much easier to practice for news media published in welfare states, such as the Scandinavian countries where international studies consistently find the happiest populations in the world. There is some truth in that, as the idea be-hind constructive news does not encourage ignoring the coverage of important problems. And having many important problems to focus on is indeed an easy excuse for failing to find the time, resources or news space to be constructive. But the bigger the problems, the greater the need to create meaning for the public by facilitating a debate on
ChapTER 8 mINd yOUR STEp 143
how to deal with those problems. Find best practice examples. Inspire hope. Find the light in the dark. Remember the definition of news is something out of the ordinary. So when the ordinary is trouble, the news is where the trouble has stopped.
Take care of too strict quantity goals. In South Africa, the new government appointed director general of the public service broadca-ster SABC began his carrier by demanding of the news reporters, that 80 percent of the news coverage of South Africa should be positive.
Probably he just agreed with the premise of this book that his news people missed a lot of the good stories out there. But because he was appointed by the government led by ANC, it was very easy to criticise him for trying to create more positive coverage of his political friends.
It is a both-and. The Americans have a nice expression called “The Tyranny of the OR”, which explains the rhetorical trick that is often used to shoot down new ideas or viewpoints. Do you think form or content is the most important? Are you critical or constructive? Do you prefer black or white? Are you positive or negative? If you do not pay attention then you feel pressured to make a choice. However, the alternative to “The Tyranny of the OR” is “The Genius of the AND”.
Constructive news is not an alternative to critical reporting; it is a supplementary new tool in the editorial tool box.
Don’t give up. Experiment with new ideas, new questions, new angles, and new ways. Find out what works, and what needs to be corrected. Find peers, share examples, use best practice.