Blog 6/18/2018

What struck me most about the religion/political reporting guest lectures was that both reporters talked about maintaining a rapport with their reporting subjects, whether they be political party officials or spokespeople for churches or religious organizations.

I expected the reporters to maintain a level of professional familiarity with their reporting subjects, but anything that went beyond that would have placed journalistic objectivity in jeopardy.

Having reconsidered this, it now stands to reason that a reporter with a familiarity that goes farther than strict professionalism carries advantages, most prominantly that one who has an ear for an in-group's jargon, customs, or habits would be better suited for reporting on said group, rather than an outsider whose inexperience may unintentionally result in misrepresentation.

This rings especially true for religion reporting. To make up an example, a common phrase I have heard during a number of group prayer sessions is to ask God to create a "hedge of protection." While it is a stretch to imagine that an inexpreienced reporter will hear this phrase and assume that the praying individuals just asked God to literally grow a protective wall of shrubbery around the missionary team about to depart for a third-world nation instead of immediately catching on to the metaphorical imagery, it is not outside the realm of possibility.

Thus the need for specialization in reporting becomes plain.