How reliable is mass media? Can we really trust television news? Do we take radio news with a grain of salt? And newspapers — well, they never get anything right. (Pardon my tongue-in-cheek approach, fellow journalists.)

The integrity of the mass media is under fire now more than ever. Hitting closer to home, print journalism is on a downward spiral. Obviously, I find that very disturbing. Also troubling are the harsh comments whispered and grumbled over the quality of the Iowa State Daily. My aim here is not to take shots at the readership or any of those who write and produce the Daily, but to simply make some observations from the perspective of a journalist and newspaper reader.

Some have told me they’ve stopped reading the Daily altogether because they claim it is consistently inaccurate and has biased reporting. A student-run newspaper with mistakes? Now there’s a shock.

We’re students. We’re learning. Of course students will make mistakes. They’re doing the best job they can. The reality of print journalism is that even the minor, trivial errors, such as a misspelling, are in black and white and blatantly obvious as compared to broadcast journalism. If a plumber screws up some piping, only one household is aware of the mistake. If a bookkeeper screws up a payroll, just the employees are affected.

Journalists, no matter how experienced, and regardless of the news organization they represent, do occasionally make honest mistakes. If it costs the integrity of a source, company or organization, is it the newspaper’s responsibility to run a retraction for every error made and the journalist’s responsibility to issue an apology? Or perhaps fire the unethical reporter? I’ve seen both happen to former co-workers and I’ve been spared the embarrassment myself due to alert, responsible editors.

Almost all accredited mass communication and journalism programs offer an ethics class and major news organizations often require employees to take ongoing workshops in ethics. Yet, there is always debate over the definition of ethics. But what is agreed upon is that ethical journalists do spend a significant amount of time fact-checking and verifying sources. Ethical journalists do try to present a story the best way they can, even when working under extreme time limitations.

Sources and other readers accuse journalists of all sorts of atrocities. If a reporter fails to act professionally and draws unnecessary attention, criticism is justified. When editors and reporters do act professionally and ethically, criticism and harassment from the public and/or sources are considered a small price to pay for legitimately exposing the truth in a corrupt world.

Industry leaders are also accused of pushing their own agenda ahead of serving the public interest. Corruption in media? What a shock. Perhaps that’s why the general public is sometimes reluctant to trust certain mass media. I don’t think very highly of local broadcast media because it seems to be about competition with other stations, self-promotion and a lot of hype about nonexistent crises, rather than what’s actually happening.

I realize that I’m making generalizations when I lump the Daily in with comparisons of local and national broadcast journalism, and local and national print journalism, but my intention is to be complimentary because anyone at the Daily has the potential to succeed at The Washington Post, Newsweek magazine or The New York Times.

During my meager four years’ worth of experience with smalltown journalism, the stories I did on fluffy, light-hearted human interest topics generated the most positive feedback. Readers told me it was a nice contrast among the negativity in the national media. Readers also complained that negativity, lawlessness and corruption dominate local and national headlines. Thus the clich‚: If it bleeds it leads. Is it all about a news director’s idea of improving ratings or is an increasing crime rate serious enough to alert the public?

It’s the chicken-or-the-egg dilemma for me. Sometimes crime and corruption are easier to spot and write about when you’re on deadline and have no other possible news leads or resources. It all depends on the individual’s perception.

Journalists work long hours in sometimes dangerous conditions, particularly those who have traveled overseas to cover the war. They deserve as much encouragement and support as our armed forces do.

It’s often a thankless job with little compensation, which is one of the reasons why I chose another field. In fact, with the exception of the few elite, journalists are among the lowest-paid professionals in the United States. So what’s the reward? I can’t answer on behalf of other journalists, but for me, it was the opportunity to learn a little bit about a lot of things, meet new people and a selfish passion for writing.

The news-gathering process is a business, and like any other business in America, the goal is to make a profit by attracting viewers and readers. Despite my distaste for local news, I respect the efforts made in describing and interpreting current events. That’s what it’s all about.