Annoying Journalist: Hello, I am an annoying journalist. You know, the stereotypical ones you see in movies. I will hound you for an inside scoop and yes, I will shove a microphone in your face and stalk you with my cameraman. I will blackmail you to get my story, and I will smirk evilly while doing it. I am not like Jim Newton, the Editor at Large and Columnist of the Los Angeles Times. He has been a professional journalist for over two decades, invited by UCLA to teach a class on ethics, and is most certainly NOT the type of journalists you see in movies.
Most of us get our news from somewhere – from the 8 o’clock news on TV, from the radio while stuck in traffic, or from surfing the net during a boring lecture. You read it, you digest it, you move on. But, it’s a whole different ball game for the one that’s actually writing the news.
During the Los Angeles riots of 1992, Jim Newton was right on the scene covering the deployment of the National Guard and the events of the riots. The four police officers, who beat up Rodney King were let off the hook, and there was a huge backlash of public outrage against the decision. The city was in peril, fires erupted, property destroyed, and death defined the week that followed.
“It was dangerous,” Newton recalls, “I saw one person shot. I myself was sort of roughed up on the first night of the riots. It was a terrifying time for the city and a personally difficult time as well. I saw so much violence and so much fear and turmoil. I was surrounded by violence and anger.”
That did not deter him though. He attacked his storytelling with clarity, persistence, and honesty and he and the staff who covered the events ultimately received the Pulitzer Prize – the highest honor in journalism.
While this was a tough point for him, journalism has also given him some laughs as well. In particular, Newton remembers the rather interesting gift someone tried to give him during his coverage of the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
“One of the big issues of the Simpson case was the DNA testing of the various samples,” said Newton, “One of Simpson’s lawyers – in an attempt to be funny – sent out to a number of journalists DNA cologne for Christmas.”
How weird.
Obviously, it wasn’t the possible “gifts” he could receive that drew him to journalism. It was his love for writing and the opportunity to become an “active citizen” that drew him to the profession as he says, “The opportunity to participate in public life and be a part of a broader political culture without having to be in political life itself really appealed to me.”
So now, while being a journalist is a full-time job, Newton is also teaching a class on the ethics of journalism at UCLA. Having worked with many extraordinary people, he sees teaching students as a way of passing on a legacy and returning the favor.
“[They] gave me a just an extraordinary and un-repayable gift of introduction to a culture, a life of writing and a life of service,” says Newton, “Teaching offers me at least some small opportunity [to] repay something that I can never repay to them directly. I’d be honored to try to pass it on to others.”
Not only that but Newton also adds that journalism isn’t dying. (You’re reading this after all, aren’t you?)
“People crave journalism just as they always have – and I have no doubt – always will. In the end, I think journalism will prevail because people need it.”
So the next time you come across the news, think about what the author did to bring you the story. Perhaps he got a tip from a source. Or maybe he spent hours perusing Google for information. But in the case of Newton, he’s old school. He was dedicated enough to venture right into the fray back in 1992 and it’s that sort of excellence he is aiming to maintain at the LA Times and hoping to pass on to his students.
Photo Credit (Photo Top Right): Steve Stroud, LA Times