Frank Catalano

Frank Catalano: The latest challenge facing journalism may have less to do with new media vs. old media and more with what it means to be a “new journalist.” The final catalyst may be the death of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and other media outlets like it.

To me, as someone who spent a good part of his career as a journalist in print, TV and radio, the question now really isn’t what will happen to the newspapers. Or, down the line, the TV and radio stations.

The question is what will happen to the journalists, whom we rely upon for what’s in the newspapers and the newscasts. It’s their output that we need, not the distribution mechanism of newsprint or radio waves or the infrastructure of printing presses and rabbit ears.

Infrastructure is not journalism; infrastructure – including the Internet – is the delivery method.

Just because the Web enables citizen journalism doesn’t mean anyone with a Blogger account and the ability to type is actually a journalist, no matter what he or she claims. “Citizen journalism” means citizens can be journalists and reach a potential audience without the intermediary of owning their own printing press or television tower.

But what’s missing is credibility and, in many cases, trust. The old infrastructure limitations to being a well-read or well-viewed journalist also had an implicit screening effect: If you were hired and worked your way up to a larger paper or TV station, you were effectively trained in (or at least had a fighting chance of) being good at journalism by bosses and colleagues who acted as mentors. Effectively, you were “certified” by the process.

Today, blogs and tweets aren’t consistently trustworthy. And there is no comparable screening process to fall back upon.

A high Google page rank doesn’t mean it’s accurate, only popular.

We’ve entered an environment where there are a lot of free agent journalists, with or without formal experience or training, either starting new ventures or selling their services to the highest bidder, no matter what the medium.

So the time has finally come for an unpopular concept that traditional ink- and makeup- stained wretches have resisted for decades: certifying journalists. Anyone who wants to be one.

Not licensing by federal or state governments, but optional certification from an independent body that an individual has at least an understanding of the principles of what it takes to be a good journalist: fairness, verifying claims with multiple sources, and all the basics that have evolved since the first daily newspaper was published in the U.S. in 1784.

After all, it’s not realistic for every wannabe journalist to spend four years in J school (even if Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communications is one of the best in the country).

And the “farm team” system of small newspapers, radio and TV station news departments where wannabes could make public mistakes without catastrophic results has all but disintegrated. So the next step, in this new era of free agent journalists, is coming up with a fully  voluntary certification program and test.

It’s not unprecedented. After all, there are reasons you may want to find a Certified Financial Planner instead of someone who hangs out a shingle as a “financial planner,” or a Realtor instead of any real estate agent, or a National Certified Counselor rather than a plain-vanilla counselor. They’ve gone through vetting (not necessarily a degree program) to get their seal of approval.

The mechanism to issue such certifications already exists, too, and not only for the above professions. Several companies (including, in the interest of full disclosure, my former employer and current client Pearson) handle preparation and testing of everyone from teachers to accountants. All that’s missing is the professional will of notoriously independent professionals.

So perhaps it’s time for the Radio-Television News Directors Association, Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi, and other professional journalism associations to suck it up and join together to agree on a core set of standards for a professional journalist certification, duration before re-certification, and grounds for revocation. All have their guidelines and codes of ethics. If they won’t work together, turn the project over to an international standards body to do the heavy lifting.

Understand the benefits won’t accrue to those lucky reporters still drawing a paycheck from an established news organization or those who are household names (though some, who mix facts and opinion without identifying which is which, surely could benefit). 

The beneficiaries will be the citizen journalists looking for third-party validation, displaced journalists wanting to join the free agent pool, and – most importantly – all of their audiences. It doesn’t guarantee good reporting, but at the very least it gives the audiences a running start on where to gravitate.

The future of journalism really isn’t about what digital or physical form the medium will take. It’s about the quality of what – and who – is filling the form.

Frank Catalano is an author and advisor on marketing and business strategy for technology and education companies. He blogs at Intrinsic Strategy.  Opinions expressed in guest posts are those of their authors, and don't necessarily reflect the views of TechFlash or its staff.