A journalist’s most important core value?
Apart from the obvious values like honesty, integrity and fairness…
Curiosity, curiosity, curiosity!
Without curiosity, there would literally be no journalism. Curiosity is the main drive behind every great story; only by asking questions we can successfully research and receive the answers and facts that we publish to our readers. With a recent increase in fake news, it’s crucial to be curious and to question facts, too.
A proverb says; “Curiosity killed the cat; lack of curiosity killed the reporter”. I find this saying to be spot on, since a reporter who is not curious, will just repeat facts that are already known. Curiosity is the willingness to find out more. We need to dig deeper and ask questions that haven’t been asked yet in an age that’s over flooded with information.
What else?
Curiosity also involves being persistent and not being content with bits of information. We, journalists, will not let go of a topic until we have satisfactory answers.
How can curiosity be useful in approaching digital tools we have today to produce good journalism?
Curiosity is not only the driving force when it comes to writing a good story. It is also the main incentive to learn new methods of conducting research, or modern forms of delivering stories. The thirst for knowledge is what makes us want to learn the handling of new tools and technologies such as new software or digital equipment like 360º cameras. Techniques and tools are evolving faster than ever. Without the curiosity to learn new methods, journalists will stay behind.
Competitiveness is key in the media field and, thus, we need to keep up-to-date with technology.
The motivation to learn and explore new digital tools is so important because it makes us put that extra bit of effort into our work. Curious journalists might attend courses outside of their work time. Some may experiment with new digital opportunities to produce more entertaining pieces. Besides, they will obtain an advantage over their less curious colleagues who will tend to stick to traditional forms of story presentation.
Featured photo by Wolfgang Ehrecke is licensed under CC0.
