Why We All Need Batmen Journalism

by KIKI WALLICK

Batmen journalists are needed to enact justice. Journalists essentially act as peacekeepers, voice amplifiers, and the power-check patrol for some of the most powerful as well as those who are the most vulnerable.

Dear and Scott (2015, p. 14) explain the role of journalists as a “watchdog function,” in which there is a critical focus on the intersections of public interest, the powerful, and the prominent. Journalists are like Batmen—they uncover dangerous individuals and bring justice back to the community. They use gadgets like photography, credible sources, interviews, expert opinions, survey results, interactive media, and so on to bring swift justice through exposés and investigative reporting.

An example of a Batman journalist is NPR’s John Burnett who investigated the living conditions for detained families at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. Burnett (2019) reports on amenities provided for the families as well as the physical and emotional abuse detained children experience in the United States’ immigration process.

The world of journalism is changing at an unprecedented rate. According to Emily Bell, a key figure in digital journalism at Columbia University, “the news profession had changed more in the past five years than it had in the previous 500,” in 2017 (Wyss 2019, 194). As our world becomes ever more connected through the world wide web and social media, the ways in which we gather, check, and share stories from all over the world has impacted the livelihood of journalism as we know it.

Wyss (2019, p. 193) discusses how the growth of online journalism has “short-circuited” conventional journalistic means in news consumers’ efforts to acquire news quickly and more efficiently. However, the quality and credibility are sometimes lost in the effort to win over the diminishing attention span of the average news consumer. This change in the delivery of the news has impacted the effectiveness of journalism in our society.

The role of journalists as our Batmen is threatened by the changes in journalism. While more news is consumed now than ever before, the vast array of news sources and mediums have challenged the more conventional journalistic means. With online journalism especially, there is an effort to keep what is online free and accessible—which is important— that limits the financial resources of news publications involved in international and investigative reporting.

Additionally, there is a rise in “fake news” that hinders the trust between the news and the public. Without the risk of repercussions, some of the most evil crimes in our society can go unnoticed with no hero in tights and a cape to save the day. On the other hand, the accessibility of online journalism also allows for citizen journalism to share and unearth stories that would otherwise go under the radar. An example of the power of citizen journalism can be seen with ISeeChange, a website that combines ordinary people’s local community observations in an effort to identify patterns and create a stronger community. 

Sources 

Burnett, J. 2019, August 23, ‘ICE Opens Family Detention Center In Texas to Reporters.” National Public Radio. Online access: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753836595/inside-a-family-detention-center-in-texas

Dear, J. and Scott, F. 2015. The public’s champion. Pages 7-15. The Responsible Journalist: An Introduction to News Reporting and Writing. Oxford U Press, Oxford, New York, USA. 

Wyss, B. 2019. Covering the environment: How journalists work the green beat. Routledge, New York, New York, USA.