The Power of Words

Yes, The Press Effect has a somewhat negative connotation on journalists, but I also feel that has to do with the situation in which they’re put. When such hot-button issues are speculated in the public eye, of course there will be moments where journalists are put to blame. In Press Effect, they seem to put a heavy focus on the conniving underground world of political reporting. There will always be information that is kept from the public, but the beauty of being a reporter is once you discover that juicy secret and expose it to the world, you are the one with all the power.

I now understand what Prof. Payne said about journalists being the most powerful people in the world, because they know the most. What strikes me, though, is how The Press Effect defines journalists in so many categories other than simple reporters. I would have never thought journalists to play a role as ‘The Amateur Psychologist’ or ‘The Shaper of Events’, but I can see how they could be. I guess once you obtain information, it’s completely up to you what to do with it. Do you tweak it to sound like something else? Do you tell it straight but advertise it constantly to dramatize the story? There are so many ways to tell a story, I guess I’m just old school when I say “What ever happened to just telling the truth?”

—Alex Hammarth