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http://www.tudorvlad.ro/2007/04/07/learning-from-the-pros/

Must "Dig" for Good Journalism

Journalism should try to redefine itself as a profession, said Tudor Vlad, associate director of an international journalism center at the University of Georgia, this morning to a beginner journalism class of 15.

Vlad has witnessed first hand both the crippling and revolutionary effects of journalism. His media relation expertise comes after a 20-year career as a journalist in Romania, which included Romania’s fall of communism.

“It is time to separate the amateurs from the professionals,” said Vlad. Nowadays, everyone can be a journalist by simply creating a blog, but Vlad stressed the overwhelming inaccuracy of online civilian journalism and people’s need for accurate news from professionals.

Vlad also mentioned the dying out of good journalism in news media as well. The media are trying too hard to meet the needs of the audience by over-simplifying; they are entertaining instead of educating, said Vlad. The media’s focus needs to be on getting the audience’s trust back as a reliable source of information and overcoming the desire to simply work for ratings. He explained.

Vlad was quick to admit he had no solution to the media problem and did not give any idealistic view of the future, but did recognize the desperate need for attention to the problem.

The domino affect of American media due to its global influence is crippling the value of news stations around the world.When the U.S. over-simplifies stories for the audience, stations using the U.S. media as a source do the same thing. This is a real problem, said Vlad.

Despite Vlad's criticism of some aspects of media, he added that the media plays an important role in creating many voices and educating people. “There is still good journalism out there, you just have to dig for it now.” Vlad said.