Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018 | 2 a.m.
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As a former journalist who still believes in fair and accurate reporting, I am annoyed with the journalistic ethics lacking in today’s news cycle. Too often, journalists, commentators and media outlets are pressured to be first rather than right. The immediacy of 24-hour news outlets and a social media world that never sleeps has created a culture of irresponsible journalism that gives credence to President Donald Trump’s infamous refrain: fake news.
Last week, I received a news alert informing me that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was leaving his post. The headline read, “Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein resigns before Trump can fire him.” The headline was changed soon thereafter, but screenshots are forever.
TV news outlets got into the action, too, as CNN justice reporter Laura Jarrett was first on the network to report exclusively that Rosenstein was heading to the White House to resign. The media whirlwind swirling around Rosenstein’s departure played out on Twitter in mass hysteria and confusion as a war of words played out on social and mainstream media.
Did he resign or was he fired? That depends on which outlet you watched and when you watched it.
Once upon a time, newsroom executive producers and editors, in their quest to be factual, would bite their nails in anxiety, making dozens of calls to confirm information before they went on air with breaking news. Often a competitor would be first to scoop them but in the world of journalism, getting it first took a back seat to getting it right. Now, the need to be exclusive has overshadowed the duty to be accurate. The sensationalized headlines to accompany the hype confuses readers, voters and the American people, adding to an already volatile perception of the press.
More often than I’d like to acknowledge, Trump’s favorite criticism of the media rings true. Yet, despite the failure to apply Journalism 101 by most media outlets, political analysts like Mark Preston still found a way to blame the confusion on the chaos surrounding Trump’s White House, telling CNN’s Kate Bolduan, “For the last two years, we’ve all been confused by the Trump presidency.”
What does Trump have to do with any of this? The White House did not put out a statement about Rosenstein resigning or his status, but political pundits and national newspapers are now tripping over themselves to get the story right.
It pains me to come across as if I am a Trump apologist. His racist, divisive and childish rhetoric and behavior is unfitting of any commander in chief. However, as a free and independent thinker, I do not tap dance to the left or to the right of politics. I believe in right is right, and wrong is wrong. And in the hoopla around Rosenstein’s status, Trump was right.
Rochelle Ritchie is a political analyst and former press secretary for the Congressional Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
