Journalists are not heroes

http://www.newsweek.com/id/132698/output/print

"The Newseum's message seems to be that journalists are heroes, newsgathering is sexy, and media matters. In the Comcast 9/11 gallery, for instance, visitors learn from a giant quote on the wall that journalists are "people who run toward disaster," like cops and firefighters."

This Newseum is supposed to be highlighting the high points of journalism to steer back an increasingly skeptical public. Now I'm all for helping the industry, but to compare journalists to cops and firefighters seems a little extreme. Yes, we run to disasters. But we do it to get something out of it - a story. Firefighters run to burning buildings to save people's lives. We run to burning buildings to ask those people how it felt to almost be killed. I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's certainly not heroic.

The only way to promote professional journalism is to do the job well. Let the reporting speak for itself.