Three Cheers for "He Said/She Said" Journalism

by publius

Ron “Fightin'” Fournier achieved something I once thought impossible – he’s made me appreciate the “he said/she said” template for journalism. In case you didn’t see the Politico story, Fournier heads the AP Washington Bureau. Since he took over, things have been a little different (Steve “Ivan Drago” Benen explains why things have gone downhill since).

Anyway, at first glance, the AP shift seems promising. Fournier claims to be encouraging his reporters to look past the "he said/she said" stenography and dig deeper. The Politico’s Calderone writes:

In the stories the new boss [Fournier] is encouraging, first-person writing and emotive language are okay.

So is scrapping the stonefaced approach to journalism that accepts politicians’ statements at face value and offers equal treatment to all sides of an argument. Instead, reporters are encouraged to throw away the weasel words and call it like they see it when they think public officials have revealed themselves as phonies or flip-floppers.

Sounds great – in fact, abandoning this approach is one of the founding ideals of the liberal blogosphere, forged as it was in the fires of the BS spin supporting the Iraq War. So what’s the problem?

Well, the problem is that this approach requires a bit more of journalists. If they’re not up to the task, the end result can actually be far worse than the comparatively safer “he said/she said” template. And that’s where Benen’s post comes in – he shows in detail why the end result has indeed often been worse.

So Team Blogosphere – maybe we’ve had this all wrong. We've assumed that journalists were discerning, well-informed creatures being held back by the constraints of the oppressive he said/she said templates. In reality, it may be that these templates were a crutch, hiding the fact that many reporters really can’t see through spin – and so aren’t quite up to Fournier’s challenge.

We can, however, take solace in the fact that he will keep up the fight.

Comments

[dr ngo]

I wonder if you might want to modify your title along the lines of E.M. Forster's famous essay, "Two Cheers for Democracy"? (Emphasis added.)

[Incertus]

I think this explains the AP's decision to go after those mounds of blogger cash. We're no longer using them as evidence--we're using them as source material, much like we use right-wing bloggers. They figure, if we're going to criticize them, we should have to pay for the privilege.

[rea]

Somehow, a change from "he said/she said" stories to a simple "he said" isn't comforting . . .

[LFC]

Fournier is a main engine in a high-stakes experiment at the 162-year old wire to move from its signature neutral and detached tone to an aggressive, plain-spoken style of writing that Fournier often describes as "cutting through the clutter."

Hmmmm. The phrase "cutting through the clutter" sounds familiar. Sorta' like the "no spin zone" and "fair and balanced".

Rupert Murdoch now sits on the board of AP. It seems that it is about to turn into an arm of Faux News.

[trilobite]

You're missing the point.

Fournier isn't asking for smarter reportage, he's asking for more emotional reportage. That's not a cure, that's just a step further down, from shallow to yellow. Makes sense: if the news has no intelligence anyway, might as well give it emotion. But it's not a solution, it's not even trying to be one, it's just whoring for ratings. Wait a few years, he'll be showing jiggle shots in between "news" clips.

[hmd]

I fear that trilobite and hilzoy might be right. In the hands of the wrong people, a policy like this can easily devolve to yellow journalism.

But I wonder if they have a bit of growing pains in this. The whole profession is full of reporters and editors who flourished in the world of he said/she said, who are now asked to report and write in a different style. This requires different skills, different techniques, different approaches; and it will take a while for the right people and the right practices to get in place. The question is, will the whole thing go down the toilet before that happens?