Tory Shepherd: Journalists don’t deserve abuse for asking tough questions and holding governments to account

Journalists – and journalism – aren’t perfect, but next time you rant online about something you read in the media that you don’t agree with, consider the bigger picture, writes Tory Shepherd.

The first time I was asked to write a serious news story, I went to the library.

It was my first week as a cadet, and my efforts to date had included a brief on the Balaklava races (which I merrily misspelled throughout as “Baklava”, having never been to a horse race, let alone Balaklava) and a picture story about tradies wearing pants that covered their bum cracks.

Now, I had to write a piece on law and order. So I checked out some large tomes on the South Australian justice system and started taking copious notes. There were index cards involved.

What an absolute Muppet. A colleague took pity, and explained that, with a looming state election, I should just go to the incumbent government and ask for a “drop”. I was duly given in advance the details of a promise about extra policing.

It wasn’t a thesis, but it was a story.

I’ve been thinking about those baby journo days a lot lately, partly because the guy I learned the job with, Russell Emmerson, died recently. And partly because so many of my colleagues have lost their jobs. And partly because the public is so miffed at journalists at the moment.

As cadets, Russell and I learned how the news sausage was made. And the fact that sometimes you had to rewrite a press release to earn the time to dig through data for a better story. That it was better to offer up an alternative (more palatable) story idea than it was to flat out refuse a request.

That while your news sense may convince you that your yarn belongs on the front page, someone else’s news sense has convinced them it only deserves a couple of paragraphs up the back of the book. Or a spot on the (metaphorical) cutting-room floor.

That if you make a mistake, you’ll soon learn about it. It might be an angry call from a subeditor. A worse outcome is a clanger that goes to print. Then you’ll hear about it from everyone from your mum to Mr ScrewTheSheeples7456 on Twitter.

And if your story annoys some people (as the good ones should), expect a wake-up call or text from a pollie, or a torrent of abuse on social media.

The point is, the news is put together by (mostly) hardworking, anxious, perfectionist but imperfect humans, who are constantly held to account. It is immensely sad to see hundreds of journalists losing their jobs across most news companies, including News Corp Australia, and most recently from Channel 10 and Nova Entertainment. Fewer people who will know about Balaklava. It’s even sadder to see an escalating number of people railing against “MSM” (mainstream media) and insisting they will “do their own research”, which usually consists of parroting idiots from YouTube or Facebook.

Journalist and academic Margaret Simons made a good point this week after a fiercely hateful backlash against a journalist holding Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to account. The Australian’s Rachel Baxendale was viciously abused and copped death threats for questioning him in a press conference.

Simons noted that the public generally sees the “finished sausage” of a news story, but in these strange times they’re tuning into entire press conferences and are taken aback at how adversarial they can appear. (That, and the fact that there’s a vocal cohort out there that just can’t stand seeing a woman hold a man to account).

People wanted Baxendale to just leave poor Mr Andrews alone. They didn’t like seeing the gristle in the sausage. The hordes misunderstood the minor role of the press conference in the broader scheme of reporting, and failed to realise that the whole country needs to learn – quickly – from Victoria’s mistakes.

A journalist’s job is to demand accountability from governments without descending to petty personal attacks.

Journalists, in turn, deserve the same. Our mistakes should be called out, but preferably without the death threats.

Ask questions, attack bad decisions and wilful bad behaviour, recognise imperfections, and know that there’s not always time to spend a week at the library. And realise politicians and journalists are both essential to making a proper democracy sausage.