As John Eligon took the stage Wednesday night, I wasn’t sure what to expect. He started speaking about how he doesn’t exactly love writing, and that hooked me right away. Why are you working for the New York Times if you don’t love to write? He then spoke about something that brought ethical questioning to my mind. One thing that he said that brought me an ethical message was that the New York Times is now encouraging its writers to write with more voice. Another ethical message that was presented to me is something that is more focused on the ethical behaviors of the people Eligon encountered on his various assignments. The ethical message that was portrayed is the fact that a performer at a neo-Nazi festival questioned over the microphone if everyone had seen the black reporter from the New York Times walking around.
The first ethical issue I will analyze is the fact that Eligon openly informed us that the New York Times wants their writers to write with more voice. This struck me because when I think of writing with voice, I think that means the writer’s opinion is starting to creep out. I also think that writing with voice means that readers are then seeing different voice from different writers due to the fact that everyone has their own writing style when it comes to voice. It is no longer the NYT’s voice, it is that individual writer’s voice.
According to The American Journalism Review, large newspaper organizations are implementing training programs to condition their writers. “The Times has opposed a formal writing coach program, since so many writing coaches wind up getting the whole paper written in their own voice,” said Nancy Sharkey, NYT former education editor, (“The Training Track”, 1999, p. 2). However, according to Eligon, there’s a way to write with voice for a national paper without blurring the lines between voice and opinion.
Eligon commented that often people mistake voice for opinion. While I agree that voice and opinion are not the same ballgame, I think it can get tricky implementing your writing style into a national newspaper organization like the NYT. It would be more ethical in my opinion, to stay consistent with the newspapers codes and guidelines when writing a story. At the same time, if there is a way to stay loyal to the organization’s guidelines while implementing voice, then that would make stories less formulated and dry. In this challenge, I would recommend reviewing the organizations guidelines and running your thoughts by your editor before diving fully into the story.
The second ethical issue I am analyzing is in the way Eligon was put into situations while covering events. Eligon told a story about a time he was in Vicksburg, Mississippi interviewing a man named Gordon Cotton. He was talking to him about his passion for the confederacy. When Eligon asked him to confirm how he spelled his name, Cotton spelled out “c-o-t-t-o-n, just like you picked.” This was clearly racist but there was nothing Eligon could do to defend himself, as he had to remain objective and calm in his reporting role. Another story Eligon told us was when he went to Germany to a neo-Nazi festival. Eligon described a scene of when the performer at the festival called out to the crowd and said, “did you see the black reported from the NYT walking around?!” As the performer said that, he peeled back his jacket to reveal his shirt which said “white power,” and started to sing a KKK song.
There are many ethical messages that are being violated in these contexts. The fact that Eligon was placed into these situations is not alarming due to the fact that he covers the race beat at the NYT. However, the people that he was covering were unethical toward him. A similar case has happened in Florida where a white supremacist made racists robocalls targeting Andrew Gillum, a black gubernatorial nominee. According to the Spokesman Review and Nexis Uni, the call included a line such as this one, “the medicine of my African race, which involves putting de chicken feets under your pillow during the full mood…” Gillum responded saying, “It’s not hard to understand why neo-Nazis would take an extension of that and then take it to the next level of extremity to further a stereotype about black men – illegal, unethical, take things for free,” (“Idaho neo-Nazi targets Florida candidate,” 2018, p. 1).
These are all unethical behaviors of those being put in the spotlight of the news. However, according to Eligon, these actions of these people tell the story better than any reporter could. When put in uncomfortable situations such as the ones above, Eligon flips the situation and understands that if he’s uncomfortable in that setting, then those being interviewed by him must feel out of skin as well. Eligon says he brings himself into the reporting without making the reporting about himself. He lets the events and the peoples’ personalities play out and tell the story while supporting it with context. Harnessing what is unfolding and giving that situation context allows Eligon to tell us about people and lack of diversity in communities.
While the stories that Eligon is reporting are unethical in the eyes of society, he seeks empathy in everyone’s story and tries to place himself in their shoes. That is an ethical practice in himself as a journalist and journalists across the world. In these types of challenges, it is important to put yourself in your interviewees shoes, get out of your comfort zone, and give a little to get a little. Even if that means generating tough skin throughout the years.
In conclusion, I think providing voice in stories is sort of unethical depending on the publication you’re working for. I think writing with voice in a NYT article is more detrimental to the company and its persona as an organization. As for people behaving unethically toward journalists, regardless of their race, that is something that we can’t control unfortunately. The way they act is just fuel for the story and their actions tell the story the best. It’s all about show don’t tell.
John Eligon’s speech was very insightful, informative, and left me with knowledge that I can apply when doing my own reporting… whether that be now during class assignments or when I’m out in the real world.
Works Cited
Felicia Sonmez and Tim Craig The Washington Post. (October 24, 2018 Wednesday). Idaho neo-Nazi targets Florida candidate Rhodes responsible for racist robocalls. Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA). Retrieved from Nexis Uni https://advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=6028da26-2e3a-4c51-8463-67b125aad031&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5TJR-H371-JC0C-J18S-00000-00&pddocid=urn%3AcontentItem%3A5TJR-H371-JC0C-J18S-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=157554&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=5ynk&earg=sr0&prid=75ad7f50-b3d4-4c24-a18a-80219ec53c6b
(October, 1999). The training track. American Journalism Review. Retrieved from Nexis Uni https://advance.lexis.com/document/?pdmfid=1516831&crid=f2754942-f2e3-4524-9630-3ad74b1102d4&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fnews%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A3XP1-3200-00D0-91RD-00000-00&pddocid=urn%3AcontentItem%3A3XP1-3200-00D0-91RD-00000-00&pdcontentcomponentid=154983&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=5ynk&earg=sr0&prid=2709b0fb-a43f-4cc5-9c2e-f3396f20e5d6