Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 1978)
Journalist calls for stronger ethics Blames profession for credibility loss By MARY BETH ALLEN Of the Emerald David Behrendt, Milwaukee Journal editorial writer, called for “stronger ethics and better per formance” from journalists and blamed the profession for “dwindl ing credibility and public support” of the press in the annual Ruhl lecture Monday night. The audience of about 75 in cluded journalism instructors and students, as well as area profes sionals in the field. “I think the press does a good job most of the time, and a great job some of the time,” said Behrendt, the journalism school's Ruhl visiting professor. He added that the journalist’s job is to ad dress the problem of “the bad job they do too much of the time.” Behrendt expressed concern about the “present uncertain health of the First Amendment." He said that the current Supreme Court justices have not been overly eager to rule in favor of the press in First Amendment-related cases. “We have very little free dom to gain and a lot to lose,” he warned. Behrendt sees public support of the press as vital to its unfettered survival, and he says that support is currently at a low point. Practic ing journalists are the ones to blame for that lack of public confi dence, Behrendt Maintains. “If we keep chipping away at our own credibility, we can t ex pect to retain citizen support,” he said. “It would be naive to think the courts are not influenced by public sentiment,” he stressed, "and we are surrounded by increasingly vocal and effective press critics ” The reaction of many news paper people to such criticism, is a "disgustingly self-serving defen siveness,” said Behrendt. Often editors will feel a false sense of security in the support their own papers receive and ignore public attitudes toward the press as a Students must apply soon for overseas study Students who wish to partici pate in the Study Abroad Prog rams in London, Avignon or Col ogne next year are reminded to submit their applications before June 1. Courses are conducted in Eng lish and are open to students of sophomore standing and above. For more information on this and other programs, contact Interna tional Student Services, 172 Oregon Hall. J r i j J r CHINA BLUE RESTAURANT /eaturing vegetarian dinners: Buddha’s Feast Most famous Chinese vegetable dish. Black mushrooms, bean curd, sheet black wood ear and many, many more in a special sauce. $4.25 China Blue 879 E. 13th Ave. 343-2832 Hours Mon Thurs. ili to 10 Fn. 10 to 11 Sal,5 to 11 Sun . 5 to 10 whole, a tactic Behrendt com pared to “rats scurrying to leave a sinking ship.” One of the "creeping chips” in the credibility is an abundance of reporters with tremendous egos, who feel they are “better and brighter than anyone else.” Behrendt says “readers detect such arrogance and react against it.” Another chip is reporter’s ten dencies to hobnob with powerful public officials and become "too cozy with powerful people,” said Behrendt. He also criticized newspapers’ willingness to cater to special interest groups and "sacred cows,” as well as the press’ tendency to sensationalize street crime while ignoring white collar crime. Bahrendt came down hard on ad vocacy journalism, saying such slanted articles are “often very readable — but are they credi ble?” He says he does not be lieve, as advocacy journalists do, that objectivity in reporting is a myth. He said there are such things as “controlled biases.” Behrendt is especially strident in, and according to the question and answer session after his re marks, the area where he met the TEST PREPARATION SPECIALISTS SINCE 1938 Visit Our Centers And See For Yourself Why We Make The Difference Call Days, Eves & Weekends Classes now forming for the upcoming LSAT, DAT, GMAT, & MCAT. Eugene 343-2618 Portland 222-5556 most disagreement, his conten tion that journalists should steer clear of any public office or politi cal controversy. “Stay the hell out of public life,” he advised “Such detachment is essential.” Behrendt said if people want to be “movers and shakers," fine — “go move and shake. But don’t come back.” The quest for the Pulitzer Prize has been as detrimental to good journalism as it has been helpful, said Behrendt. He lambasted what he called “the current fetish for investigative journalism,” say ing the old-timer who “vacuum cleans the courthouse for 30 years” is more valuable than the “young punk journalist” who ap proaches his beat with the attitude that all public officials steal. Behrendt ruefully called his speech a “litany of laments.” He said, “It is time for some extra ef forts at self-policing,” and that “touching, informed indepen dence, stronger ethics and human decency” are overdue and a cure for loss of press credibility. EMU Cultural Forum Presents BIG ROOM-A COLLABORATION IN MOVEMENT AND SOUND * by Dancer Simone Forti and Composer-Performer Peter Van Riper Sunday, May 21 - EMU Ballroom - 8 p.m. $1.50 - UO Students $2.00 - General Public Tickets for performance available at EMU Main Desk Dance Workshop (Forti) May 21, Gerlinger Studio, 8 p.m. Lecture-Demo (Forti & Van Riper) May 22, Gerlinger Studio, 8 p.m. Free of Charge
