A free flow of reliable information is important to any democracy since information is the lifeblood of a democracy, veteran US political journalist James Dickenson asserted.
Dickenson was at the time addressing a small number of journalists at the Hotel Tower at a US Embassy-sponsored forum which is part of a US State Department initiative that has seen him visiting a number of countries. From Guyana, following a public forum today, Dickenson will travel to Suriname to address journalists in that country.
James Dickenson
Yesterday’s forum, though poorly attended, facilitated a lively and beneficial interaction between Dickenson and the journalists present during which he acknowledged that reporters in the US work under better conditions and had it far easier than their peers in other countries such as Guyana.
The journalist, who covered every US presidential campaign from 1964 to 1988, stated that the reason behind China rivalling the US to become the superpower of the world is because of its inability to control the flow of information which has increased with technology such as the internet. That flow of information, he indicated, is strengthening the people and the economy.
According to Dickenson, journalists are extremely important to any society and in fact have a great deal of power in any democratic society.
With that being said, he also noted that journalists have the responsibility to provide people with reliable information that can assist them in their everyday life while stressing that the information given must be what people can trust.
Meanwhile, Dickenson noted that covering politics is never an easy task as government officials are often time not cooperative and would want to control the flow of information to their advantage.
“It is a difficult and complicated process as you have to get information from people who don’t want to give or who want to distort it,” he said in reference to political reporting. But while it may be difficult and demanding it is a challenge that any journalist should want to take on and that is one of the reasons Dickenson says he always encourages bright young people to join the profession in the US.
He described political reporting as a “never-ending unrelenting process” and said journalists must keep themselves informed on the political scene in their country and further afield.
He said politicians should be treated with scepticism as “they have to prove themselves; we don’t have to prove ourselves to them.” He warned that journalists should be careful of competing officials who would want to push information to their advantage and as such in reporting the journalists must ensure they get a well-rounded picture. Journalists are also warned that even though they may feel strongly about an issue they should not push their agenda in their reporting and they must always ensure that fact checking is done.
“Maintain your professionalism, you are not there to be pushing any point of view,” Dickenson warned while adding what journalists should want to do is to inform their readers and viewers as clearly as possible so they can get the right information to make their decisions.
He advised that a column is the place journalists could give their opinions but said it is not a path he would encourage practising journalists to take.
Following his presentation, the discussion centred on the issues local journalists have to face especially against the backdrop of reporting in a small population, which sometimes sees journalists and their entities being identified and berated for reporting an issue that may be true but not to the liking of the administration.
Dickenson was a political reporter, editor and columnist for the Washington Post, the National Observer and United Press International for nearly 30 years. He covered the White House during the administrations of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Dickenson also has covered the Senate and the House of Representatives and their major election campaigns, plus major gubernatorial, mayoral and other political and non-political stories around the United States. He now works as a media consultant with federal government agencies and private corporations while continuing freelance writing.
It is indeed nice to see outside experience such as Mr James Dickenson visiting Guyana and bringing his opinions and comments on the Guyanese press and this illustrates the great freedoms enjoyed by the Guyanese media nowadays. This outreach forum of Stabroek News being the most spectacular.
I would make the following comments:
1 Mr Dickenson completely misunderstands the reasons China now rivals the US to become the dominant superpower and he should know full well that even the internet itself is extremely tightly managed by the Big Ones in Beijing.
2 Mr Dickenson appears slightly biased against politicians in favour of the press in the article above and this is not too bad a thing as there indeed are very many politicians who may not have the interest of the ordinary citizen at heart.
The position of the PRESS however, is not at all pure.
The world over, each news outlet will have varying amounts of bias based on its owner’s preferences and this bias easily trickles down to the ordinary reporter (if they want to keep their job!).
Because of this, the ordinary reporter who Mr Dickenson asks to do the best job he can, my have to ‘TAILOR’ their news reporting to reflect the bias of their employer. To see bias at work, one just has to look at Mr Dickenson’s country’s Rupert Murdoch Fox News offerings!
There have been many, many Editors who have had to resign their watch simply because of conflict of opinion with their boss.
Who said democracy was easy?
Nevertheless, the presence of these discussions is proof that Guyana is making progress…
“Works as media consultant for federal agencies” ? Hmmmmmmmmm…
Mr. Dickenson may be a well meaning fellow and objective journalist but developing countries always have to be wary bout this type of sponsorship. CIA funded disinformation programmes and planting of US propaganda has done untold damage in the people’s ongoing struugles worldwide for justice, progress and democracy . It has to be monitored.
Look at what they did to help topple the freely elected government of President Allende in Chile during the 1970s And the use of backward media in Guyana in the eraly 1960s to remove the PPP government and install CIA backed stooges and boot lickers in the PNC and United Force ….
The “free flow of informaion” and “democracy” are all sounding good but WHAT TYPE ?
Very incisive comments indeed. Guyana has a wonderful opportunity to learn from the mistakes and to implement best practices of the leading democracies going forward. This is why the state monopoly of media must be rejected and our reporters must be professional,providing objective reports on events at all times. Media houses should be held accountable for quality,fairness and balance in the context of our having appropriate censorship mechanisms in place.
To practise journalism in a a small country one has to develop the art of self censorship and linguistic deception and ambiguity to maintain a livelihood. Newspapers and other media outlets are so few that an independent voice can be silenced if that voice runs afoul of established editorial policy. The luxury of quitting is practically non-existent because the field requires so few journalists and soon you’re playing the game. The government can also punish your publication a la Stabroeknews by withholding advertising revenues. These are chilling factors to be always considered.
Satish & Reddy, please recommend a good book on journalism for me. I want to become a journalist. I’m tired of being a journeyman.
There is no free press when SN still feels forced to censor it’s readers comments so as not to offend the PPP.
This man should do this charity at home first; tell the Fox New Network to get with the program and stop fabricating news that has a perspective. He should teach others abroad to be unbiased in their reporting. Milking is not good journalism!!!
aint reddy, it was not the boot lickers from the pnc that were picking up and fetching jimmy carter’s bags at the airport after he installed your pee pee pee to power with an election that the results have still not been known. this was how a president behaved to show his gratitude to massa. for my friend tali yasuman71 their was a good bok written by jagan; even though its not a journalistic journal, you can get some insite in there.
You sure do not have any understanding of what a free press is all about Bishpattie…Go edify yourself before you disgrace it here…
Yasuman, although you did not specifically ask me to recommend a book for the study of journalism, may I recommend one? Assuming that your amswer is yes, here it is: Prentice-Hall Handbook for writers. ISNM
Ulric, thanks a lot.
media war now wid white ouse and fix noize oppppps i mean fox news..
this banas should go to the mideast and lecture Israel….
Why is it we can only see Israelis ambulances racin up an down with victims of bombings and news medias barred by Isreal from reporting what Israel does in Palestine?
Journalists are even afraid to attend a presentation intended to motivate them to greater heights in growth achievement and standards.
SKY. Fear of fear itself. Which makes them pinheads, not patriots.
Yasuman71 journey to the center of the earth you will find it there.
That place got books on hellfire, man, not books on journalism.
Journalists must adhere to one philosophy.Only write what you know.Do not indulge in speculation,gatekeeping(withholding certain key national news and pushing a political agenda), and putting a spin on news to make select individuals either look good or bad.
“Journalists are reminded of their role in advancing democracy”.
No so in Guyana – journalist/s is/are banned by the Big Chief.