Once upon a time, in lands far, far away, American journalists actually lived in the countries they covered and understood local politics and culture. But in view of the massive retreat by many news organizations from covering the world, too many journalists these days (those who still have jobs) sit in the home office and merely comment on Twitter and on television about bits of wire service copy or video clips they receive from abroad. They may not really know anything about the realities on the ground, but that doesn’t stop them from commenting. In the view of Mort Rosenblum, many American journalists have become “churnalists,” who merely “whip up froth from others’ work.”
It’s a devastating critique and Rosenblum made it to an OPC book night on November 17 in New York marking the publication of his latest book, “Little Bunch of Madmen: Elements of Global Reporting.” The term “little bunch of madmen” refers to the small cluster of correspondents who insist on entering scenes of disaster or conflict when everyone else is fleeing.
Rosenblum, who is based in Paris and has been covering the world for 40 years, has self-published this book, which is aimed at equipping young journalists with the passion and knowledge to cover the world’s most important stories because their elders have been fired or simply disappeared. “It’s unbelievable who is not out there,” he said.
The goal for American journalists, he said, should be to be on the scene “before the story starts” so that they can speak the language and understand a bit of the history and culture, thereby enabling them to place an event in the proper context. Too many journalists these days parachute into a story from London or New York and portray themselves as instant experts, which they cannot possibly be, Rosenblum argues.
Or else they resort to opinion polls from readers to generate more web traffic. “Germany Invades Poland,” Rosenblum wisecracked. “What’s your opinion?”
Under gentle questioning from old time friend, Victor Navasky, who was editor or editorial director of The Nation magazine, for 27 years and now teaches at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, Rosenblum said there was an enormous difference between a journalist who has on-the-ground knowledge versus a journalist who goes onto Google and does a search for background information. “It’s time that people understand the difference,” he said. He said some words and images reaching Americans are merely “masquerading” as news.
In the old days, Rosenblum recalls, correspondents on the ground sent in their dispatches to headquarters in “cable-ese,” meaning short, clipped words and phrases meant to save money on telex charges. Editors, who acted as “gatekeepers,” sifted through their dispatches and decided what stories were important for Americans and how to improve upon the copy and check accuracy. Most of those safeguards are gone now and an image or a soundbite can flash around the world in seconds, often distorting a story entirely. “If you can get it wrong at the speed of light, I sort of like the old way,” he quipped.
Rosenblum, who also holds a teaching position at the University of Arizona in Tucscon, said the profession of covering the world has only four or five more years to teach the next generation of correspondents how to cover stories in the most authentic ways, or else the skills sets that Rosenblum and others have displayed over the decades could be lost entirely. “You have to see. You have to judge,” he advised. “And tell the story with as much balance as you can. I’m seeing less and less of that.”
The net effect of poor quality journalism is pretty clear in Rosenblum’s mind. “A misinformed America is making fresh enemies and losing old friends,” he says.
The book can be purchased on www.bunchofmadmen.com.