Journalistic Integrity

Journalistic Integrity


I believe we should not be sacrificing our own personal ideals and our own internal moral compasses in a never-ending battle for position, for status, for scoops, or for access. I believe we should treat those we interact with online with respect and an adherence to high standards in the way that we would like to be treated - and I don't think we are doing enough as content consumers and producers to do a great job. (Louis Gray)

Not too long ago, a writer whom I respect mightily said that he would continue to write, even if there were none who read his work, even there were no internet to which to publish.

Finally, there is an inner impulse that I cannot explain that drives me to write. I would write if there were no possibility of publication. I have hundreds of pages that no one has ever seen but me, and it would not matter ultimately if they were destroyed. I wrote them not to be published but because there is an impulse from within. (John Piper)

His thoughts set me aback. I DO want people to read and value my work. Part of the enjoyment of a thing is the opportunity to share it. I write because I enjoy the thought that my words may create some clarity or humor, or change of perception or prejudice.

I don't think I would continue writing if I believed there were no one to read what I write - I need an audience.

Is that egocentric?

With that in mind, Louis Gray's comments add a deeper level to my desire to write...and my need for an interested audience.

The metrics by which we are all measured are driven by quantity, not quality.

Writers have an obligation to their readers to remain true to themselves, rather than placing popularity or sensation as the goal. He desribes the efforts of many Internet authors as a never-ending battle for position, for status, for scoops, or for access.

I don't have a lot of time to devote to writing. It is my passion, but life requires me right now to work at a job that does not need my creative skills. So my literary contributions are rough, lacking adequate research, written quickly.

Thus, my brief posts, my retweets, my Facebook notes, don't come near the moral integrity of which Louis writes.

What do I need to change about my writing?

Reference Links

http://blog.louisgray.com/2010/05/its-time-to-stand-for-something-better.html

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2010/4490_My_2010_Writing_Leave_What_and_Why

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