How to Be a Great Journalist

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What is good journalism? For one thing, says PR strategist Matthew Hiltzik, it's responsible and it doesn't play into our cravings for instant gratification. When Hiltzik visited our video studio, he remarked that attention has become the currency of the digital publishing world. In order to keep site traffic peaking, some sites may prioritize the quantity of stories being published over their quality. The side effect? Reader fatigue. "I think that there's less of an understanding in the media about how damaging that potentially can be when they're dealing with serious subjects. Because they talk about them too many times. The minutia of every single tree being discussed instead of the actual impact of the forest can actually be very damaging," says Hiltzik.
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MATTHEW HILTZIK
Matthew Hiltzik is the president and CEO of Hiltzik Strategies, a highly regarded strategic communications and consulting firm with offices in Manhattan and LA. He has worked closely with industry leaders in film, finance, sports, philanthropy, tech, music and entertainment and public affairs.
As an attorney as well as a documentary producer, Matthew has enjoyed a fascinating career as the quintessential “guy” behind the guy (or the woman). He often does his best work in ways that are invisible to the public (though not necessarily journalists) but appreciated by his clients. After graduating from Cornell and Fordham Law School, Matthew began his career in politics as press secretary and deputy executive director of the New York State Democratic Committee. From there, he moved to Hollywood, as the head of corporate communications for Miramax Films while serving as a spokesman and advisor to Harvey Weinstein. In 2005, Matthew left Miramax to become President and CEO of the U.S. office of the U.K based publicity firm Freud Communications before founding Hiltzik Strategies in 2008.
Biography courtesy of The Sunday Long Read.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Matthew Hiltzik: It's unfortunate when anybody, not just the journalists, determines a storyline before they actually consider all the facts. The only time that it's good to have an ending and work backwards is if you're writing a screenplay or a book. Or maybe a poem or something similar to that.
In general it's much better-if you're in a journalistic environment-to be able to make sure that you actually are considering all the facts, and very often some of the best stories and the best reporting comes where the actual facts don't jive with what the original hypothesis was, because it actually can be more revelatory, it can be more insightful, it can be deeper and it can be more impactful if you're not going with the conventional wisdom.
That's especially bad in our environment when you have reporters who are writing about similar topics and trying to find some new way to be able to discuss the same thing that we hear over and over and over again.
One of my pet peeves is the fact that you have this tendency, and I won't point fingers at that specifically who, but in general it's too frequent that outlets and individuals are pressured to focus on the quantity of the stories that they're writing as opposed to necessarily the quality; because it really hurts themselves and it hurts the perception.
When you're looking at reporting on really serious issues, whether it be in government or local issues or energy or education or any of the things that really are very-foreign policy-that matter in our world, it's really unfortunate if you have someone who feels the need for click-bait or for other reasons to do ten stories on something when two or three of them were actually really strong, excellent reporting, but the public sort of tired of them because if they weren't the first or the second or the third and maybe they were the 68th and the 10th, by the time they get to those they're tired of the subject, they're less likely to read it and it won't have as much of an impact. There's a fatigue about subjects and I think that there's less of an understanding in the media about how damaging that potentially can be when they're dealing with serious subjects. Because they talk about them too many times; the minutia of every single tree being discussed instead of the actual impact of the forest can actually be very damaging.
Our world moves very quickly. The instant gratification is there. Anybody who...
For the full transcript, check out bigthink.com/videos/matthew-h...

[@moshefabrikant1]

2:30 Be a good listener 3:50 Don't hammer people with questions 5:50 Have fun doing it

[@traceyleeglendenning4063]

"This ought to be fun because we're examining the human condition, that's fun." Love it!

[@latishacroissant2238]

In order for people to trust the media again the journalists themselves need to be unbiased and honest in their reporting...yes it can be easy to feed the hysteria and listen to the higher ups but if you take an oath as a journalist you have to find a way for people to see the TRUTH. And that is why i am majoring in journalism, to be that different journalist!

[@TheQinixdrix]

I agree, that is the only way anything should be reported. You are not alone!

[@Yellowshirtmann]

Ethical standards are necessary in journalism to ensure that the news is factual and trustworthy. In a world where things are happening and being reported on every day, it is crucial that this information is distributed as truthfully as possible so that the public is not misinformed. An important part of this is trying to maintain neutral in arguments, or unbiased. Where journalists go wrong-especially students learning how to be journalists (so listen up!)-is including their own opinions in a story. The use of opinions in the news can lead to the distortion of facts based around what the journalists wants his or her readers to believe. The point of the news is to inform, and not to try to encourage people to believe one way or another, although this happens often.

[@anweshasaha5222]

I want to become like you

[@sunnymathews2657]

I'm only going into 9th grade but I truly aspire to be a journalist. I want to write the truth. :)

[@jirlboss8269]

Sunny Mathews Omg, same here

[@Someone-pj2pl]

Sunny Mathews well your not going to get fare. If you don’t have a agenda on anything

[@universethousand9087]

Journalism takes many forms, however reporting the truth will never sell. (Son of a NYT journo)

[@biaxx6316]

Sunny Mathews just like u

[@Irisphotojournal]

Many journalists write the truth but most of them don't get published.

[@carolineampofo5375]

I really enjoyed everything he said but really in with this point"Be A Good Listener"😍 This point is going to be my key from now onwards

[@mecapoonslayer4245]

you had me at good listener.

[@harrisafiari6938]

Be a good listener, that the main poin to be journalist...thank you

[@bmcoul]

I really thank you for this great explaination about journalism.

[@tygrallure6895]

thank you for this. I enjoyed these tips, tremendously.

[@rohanbhattarai9336]

Dear Sir Tnq so much for your loving heart........ Tnq for sharing..

[@josealexandervilalizmova3414]

I have been thinking in study journalism! thank you

[@paolomarkone]

nice

[@Welcometomylife2441]

He is very wise, I hope to be a journalist like him one day!

[@emilymartinez7609]

did you become one?

[@sunnymathews2657]

Welcometomylife2441 update!!

[@kapilsharma320]

Yeah, Give us a Update.

[@kaycee8323]

I wanna know too

[@dambardiprawal7129]

Thank you for your kind. Love from Nepal 🇳🇵

[@jonlong5541]

What about the legendary professional news journalist Tom Tucker ??

[@Welcometomylife2441]

Thank you. I hope you're a great journalist as well and that your news business goes well. What country do you want to start it of at?

[@ragumani2061]

Ur speech is fabulous

[@keiokid]

I’m a campus news writer in our school and I want to achieve of being a good writer

[@army4everonly326]

KarlAriate Official me too,I started writing articles when I was in my 4th grade and now I’m on my 7th grade

[@abdishukriragow8752]

Thanks alot

[@Yellowshirtmann]

Study Stovall, pretty standard of what you need to know when reporting facts. Community is not always defined by physical proximity. Communities of interest have newspapers, too, and the list of publications includes more than the trade press. Consider, for example, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Both have specialized audiences and are edited to satisfy their inter­ests. USA Today also appeals to a distinct public‑the business traveler away from home‑and this explains many of the edit­ing choices it makes, which would be foolish for a metropolitan daily newspaper with an audience that has a much different set of shared interests. The bias of community provides an answer to a snobbish question one often hears: Why don't other newspapers pay as much attention to international affairs as the New York Times does? The Times recognizes that for much of its audience the world is the pertinent community of interest. A disproportion­ate part of its readership engages directly in international busi­ness and public policy. Since it is circulated nationally, the Times becomes a kind of local newspaper for this community (and can be as provincial about matters outside its territory as any other paper; just try to get guidance from the Times about the best easy‑listening CDs or religious TV shows). There are not enough people in most cities who are deeply engaged in in­ternational affairs to command strong international coverage in their metropolitan dailies, though in certain centers such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Chicago the audience is large enough to support a substantial foreign‑news commitment by the local papers, and in others such as Miami there is enough interest in one part of the world to require the newspaper to make a large commitment of space and attention to it. The element of significance in the definition of news does not necessarily introduce a bias. Rather it might be said to be the heading under which to group all other biases. These may arise out of the social circumstances of journalists, the impera­tives of the economic market on their news organizations, the culture from which a journalist comes, or the larger intellectual currents of the times: interesting issues, but I do not mean to pursue them here, as they do not distinguish observational bias among journalists from the bias of any other observer. For the mo­ment, though, suffice it to note that the biases that arise out of the definition of news sharply restrict whatever truth claim journalism makes, narrowing its angle of vision and establish­ing the qualities of the lens. What is the standard of truth to which the news ought to aspire? A report that meets the criteria of timeliness, interest to a community, and significance may be more truthful or less so. It may reflect reality or show it on a skew. Once again, jour­nalists tend to look at this practically rather than philosophically. And they have suggested over the years several ways of describing the disciplines to which they adhere in order to cor­rect against bias and maintain a proper relationship with the truth.

[@holisticpsychologybyobrien]

Journalism aligns with many of my interests.

[@li7sys2023]

спасибо

[@khalilandfamilyvlogs5615]

hell yeah

[@christoffer3949]

back in my day.....

[@TsubasaKato]

Hi. This is stingraze(kato) Tsubasa Kato Reporting for duty. (aka Clark Kent Japanese)

[@lifetops6569]

He really said I trust the NYT. Like holy shit. And he's how old. Memory shot I guess

[@xlegendary_leex_1058]

I went to school for Journalism 😅

[@user-bu5xk9mk4t]

In kind of feels like he's getting pretty off-topic since he elaborates so much on one question😂😆

[@TheCandisr]

Still thinks he's relevant, but he's just a tool.

[@christoffer3949]

@@TheCandisr damn.

[@yusufcabdi-wy1yx]

How i can great joutnalist

[@DavidEdwardsnfo]

Does not journalist in general seek reasons to claims made among people's lives as evidence to further warrant reasons to maintain interest as does prosecutors. Whom must until more recent times seek evidence to justify the reasons to warrant further prosecution. Request an warrant to arrest, search or cease property. s the a pattern here?

[@zeejason9829]

Great speech

[@eriksonoliveira10]

Silvio Santos?

[@MiguelExhale]

🤔

[@joseaguilarnogueda2024]

OK

[@gacharose1738]

Should journalists be registered, as doctors, lawyers,etc.

[@DihelsonMendonca]

I hardly can watch any of the BIG THINK videos i full screen due to this terrible white background which hurts my eyes. I can only listen.

[@paolomarkone]

hahahah same

[@ihavequestions6302]

Today kyle rittenhouse was found not guilty. In the 12 months leading up to the trial, he was vilified by most main stream medias. Throughout the trial, the evidence for his innocence was overwhelming, and the jury agreed. Even after the evidence had been shown, some main stream media still would not accept that he was innocent despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. I think this video is important, there is a very big problem with the media and journalism today. Click bait articles, too much subjectiveness, and outright denial of the facts has poisoned journalism.

[@47imagine]

I'm a reporter and my life is miserable :-(

[@leonitasekiraqa98]

why?

[@anweshasaha5222]

Heyy whyy can you pls tell me

[@yourmajesty8913]

Hope you’re doing okay

[@sbtopjosh4098]

The Mafia killed him. RIP to this youtube commentor.

[@abdullmarufhamdami6355]

E......................................,,,,,,,

[@waterdragon2012]

Kind of went against his own advice by being overly prosecutorial to Trump.

[@muscledog666]

Be mitchin

[@aibrainlet8041]

This is all wrong. Old hat and outdated.