Letter from the President
30/10/2025 11:02
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| Dear Members, |
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| This may sound like a curious question coming from the President of a press club, but recently I’ve found myself wondering, what is a journalist? For the sake of our Club’s membership, the answer is fairly simple. We look for the majority of a Member’s income to come from journalistic activity, and then where that work is published. Looking up “journalist” in a dictionary will find something along the lines of “a person who writes for newspapers, magazines, news websites or prepares news to be broadcast”. |
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| It feels like it should be simple enough to define the role of a journalist but, as we have found throughout history, people, particularly those in positions of authority, will produce rather nebulous definitions of journalism. If we look to the United States, the current administration has embraced what they call “new media”, which includes a pool of clearly partisan publications and people many of us would opt to call “influencers”. |
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| But the presence or lack of objectivity cannot help us define a journalist. As much as the media tries to produce news that is “unbiased” and “objective”, the reality is that objectivity is a relatively new phenomenon in journalism. Historically, publications have taken sides. What most of us as journalists now try to achieve is something that is as critical and objective as possible. This generally relies on what we hope is a media literate consumer who will read and watch news produced by multiple platforms. It also relies on the ability of multiple publications, staffed by diverse journalists, to produce news. |
| This diversity is often stifled, both intentionally and unintentionally. The latter is something that we, as an industry, need to more consciously address. The former is a bit more clear cut. While I can’t argue with the need to redefine journalism in the 21st century, the “new media” pool in The White House seems to clearly lack diverse thought. Likewise, when we look at the media situation in Gaza, we see foreign media shut out. That creates a reliance on local journalists who can both more readily be accused of bias by outsiders, and a stifling of information that international journalists may be able to report and share with their home consumers. |
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| What concerns me, as a member of the press and the President of the FCC, is how we identify and react to bias. Media-literate consumers should be able to look to multiple news sources to recognise bias in a way that makes them more critical and knowledgeable. But too often perceived, or real, bias is weaponised. It becomes an excuse, by all sides, to crush voices of opposition. What we are seeing in places like Nepal and Gaza is violent, intentional repression of the media. |
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| We may differ slightly in our definitions of a journalist, but in my position, I will continue to stand for the right of all journalists to work without fear of repercussions. Journalists are civilians, and journalism is not a crime. |
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| Best Regards, |
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| Morgan M. Davis President |
| [email protected] |
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