PULITZER-PRIZE WINNING journalist Geneva Overholser accepted the Anvil of Freedom Award Tuesday and told an audience of about 100 that American journalism is “seriously threatened” both within and outside the media.
The award is given by the Edward W. Estlow International Center for Journalism and New Media to a prominent journalist for his or her championship of the First Amendment. The event was held at the Ritchie Center and was attended by University of Denver officials, faculty, staff and students.
In an impassioned speech that received a standing ovation, Overholser said the public believes that reporters are too self-absorbed and opinionated, while publishers, often large media companies, only care about the bottom line and profits and not the news content.
She said that often news is “secondary to business.” Coverage of stories does not correspond to what concerns the public and “satisfying shareholders has become more important than serving citizens.”
Plummeting readership of newspapers shows that newspapers are in trouble, Overholser said.
“Newspaper profit margins have gone up some 50 percent in the last decade, while readership has gone down 15 percent,” she said.
Another sign of journalism gone wrong is reflected by job dissatisfaction among reporters. Overholser said this is due in part to the lack of training. In 2001, more than 2,000 reportorial jobs disappeared. In addition, the desirability ranking of a reporter’s job sank to No. 37 out of 40 professions listed, she said.
Overholser described journalism as becoming altered, marked by tension, ultimately producing shoddy work. Quality writing has become “a distant dream.” Reporters have evolved into entertainers rather than informers.
“While news can be entertaining, that’s not our job, to be entertainers,” she said. “Our job is to be informers, and that’s a tremendous challenge today because these forces of infotainment are crashing through the door. And the ratings are imperative, you have to have them or you don’t survive.”
While these issues are commonly discussed within the trade, they are seldom addressed outside the confines of the newsroom.
“So what is good in journalism?” Overholser asked.
Despite its decline, Overholser said there are positive aspects that distinguish journalism as an icon of American culture. In addition to informing readers about the entire gamut of topics, newspapers inform communities about local issues. The entire content of a newspaper affects readers, not just the big stories.
“In any given community, I assure you, newspaper newsrooms are the place where the most original reporting is going on,” she said. “And that reporting in turn influences other media.”
Overholser agreed with a statement by Phil Graham, Katharine Graham’s husband and the one-time publisher of the Washington Post. He called journalism “the first rough draft of history.”
Overholser offered several solutions to improve the integrity of mass media. For one, reporters should receive more training in the newsroom and should be better compensated. Newspaper owners should invest more effort in news gathering than in making profits.
Overholser concluded by reiterating “the power to mold the public lies in journalists.”
She expressed her excitement for the students in the audience, the future voices of America.
“Newspapers are only as good as the richness of the newsroom,” she said.
DU alumni and trustee, Edward W. Estlow, introduced Overholser. He called her a woman of influence who “speaks her mind” and is “not afraid to challenge her profession to improve and achieve.”
