What Defines a Journalist? (2024)

The answer is both simple and very complex.

Here is the short version: people who work in news and information, in print and broadcasting, call themselves journalists because journalism is what they do. But some listeners increasingly ask, "Says who?"

That question of labeling journalists emerged on Dec. 31, when NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday aired a story by a Baghdad-based photojournalist, Bill Putnam. It reported that some members of the Georgia National Guard found a baby in Iraq who was suffering from spina bifida. The Guard then arranged for her to be flown to Atlanta for treatment.

'Good News' From Iraq on NPR?

It was a "good news" story from a region where there has not been much good news to report. It was also appropriate for the holiday season.

But one listener, Ms. Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi wrote to object. Not to the story, but to the person who reported it. Ms. Ghamari-Tabrizi thinks Putnam has no right to call himself a journalist, because of what he used to do.

Putnam is a recently discharged soldier, now working in Iraq as a freelance reporter and photojournalist, embedded with one of the units. While in the army, Putnam performed similar duties with the Army Public Affairs Office. The Office publicizes the non-military side of life, and stories generated by that group are often found in smaller hometown newspapers that can't afford to send their own reporters to Iraq.

Putnam says he is a journalist, because his audio diaries have been heard on his stateside public radio station in upstate New York -- North Country Public Radio -- and he has published articles in magazines. He also maintains a blog about his daily life and impressions.

Dual Loyalties?

Ms. Ghamari-Tabrizi says because of Putnam's military background, and because he is embedded, he must have conflicting loyalties between his previous military life and his present employment. In reporting this "good news" story on NPR, she wonders if Putnam is painting a too-rosy picture of the good works performed by military personnel. In short, she asks, was NPR "snookered" by Bill Putnam?

Not at all, says Gwen Thompkins, editor of Weekend Edition Saturday:

Other than the suspicions of this listener, we have no grounds to believe that we have been snookered by Mr. Putnam, or his report. From the very beginning of our interactions, we knew he was former military. He told us so. We can't vouch for his personal views, or for any unspoken design on his part to put a positive spin on the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Nor can we assume -- as the listener does -- that the Bush administration is in cahoots with Mr. Putnam, spinning a story about a girl with spina bifida to make Americans, or Iraqis, change their minds about the occupation. Weekend Edition Saturday gave 3:30 minutes to a straightforward account of how a National Guard unit responded to the medical needs of an Iraqi infant with spina bifida. This does not rise to the level of the Manchurian Candidate.

I agree with Gwen Thompkins. The report itself was well within NPR standards. And NPR has presented many of the horrors of the war with some outstanding coverage from correspondents such as Anne Garrels, Deborah Amos, Eric Westervelt, Jamie Tarabay, Ivan Watson and others. These reporters and their excellent work are familiar to most NPR listeners.

Who Is Bill Putnam?

But Ms. Ghamari-Tabrizi raises a question that other listeners have also raised: Why do some freelancers appear on NPR without any explanation? What is their background? Is NPR right to ask listeners to implicitly trust the work of these freelancers? In my opinion, the sudden arrival of Bill Putnam on NPR needed some additional explanation beyond this "tag" read at the conclusion of his report:

WERTHEIMER: That was photojournalist Bill Putnam reporting from Baghdad.

North Country Public Radio was able to fill in some of Bill Putnam's background. Martha Foley Smith is that network's news director. Her stations have broadcast some of Putnam's radio diaries. Smith says they give the listeners a good sense of what it's like for the soldiers from that part of upstate New York -- Fort Drum -- who are in Iraq. But Smith insists Putnam's reports are aired only if the listeners are completely aware of his background:

We were always very clear with listeners about who he was and who he really worked for, and the nature of the material he was sharing with us... but they weren't presented as reported stories, rather as events in Bill's life there, from his point of view as a(n ex-) soldier, and a person with obvious sensitivity to events and people around him.

We feel comfortable about that relationship. Bill's morph(ing) into a freelancer is more complicated for us, of course. We were careful to find out who he works with, and through, now.

... I think he's particularly valuable to us because no, I don't think we hear enough about Iraq, or about what soldiers really do there. That's his assignment from us: his account of who these guys are, what they're doing, what it's like there for them, and so on.

Iraq From A Soldier's Point of View

I contacted Bill Putnam and asked him if he thinks his report on the child with spina bifida was just a bit of pro-war propaganda, as Ms. Ghamari-Tabrizi suggests:

I understand her... um, concern about media manipulation. It's one of the reasons I left the military. I couldn't accurately reflect the reality "down in the trenches." If you need examples, read my CJR article in their September/October edition entitled "My Aim Is True."

If she feels "snookered" that's her opinion. The only thing I wanted to cover as a journalist was war and/or conflict. Since it's very dangerous for Americans to run around Baghdad unilaterally, covering this war from the inside, [it's] really my only option. I've done the unilateral thing and woke up to truck bombs a block away. Part of the game but covering it while living on a FOB (Forward Operating Base) seems the better option.

... my background, I think, is an advantage. But I don't know if distance is a good thing or not. It's really up to the individual journalist. I waited six months before returning. Not only did I need the break but I wanted to wait until everybody I knew in theater left. But 10 years in the Army and multiple deployments have given me an in that not many other journalists have. I know how to operate in the field and talk to Joe or Jane without coming across like an idiot.

... (being) fair is all subjective. The conservatives are screaming we're not covering the "good" things like food distribution and schools being refurbished. Liberals are screaming the country's falling apart. Well, both are partially true. We're trying to cover a very dangerous war here where both sides are targeting us, either intentionally or unintentionally. If I could afford to hang out in a hotel and roam the countryside, I would. But I can't. My life is at risk here more as a journalist than it was a soldier. This definitely isn't Bosnia or Kosovo.

So that's it from my end, sir. Take care.

Questions Raised About NPR's War Reporting

For me, there are two issues raised by Ms. Ghamari-Tabrizi's question and by the answers from Gwen Thompkins, Martha Foley Smith and Bill Putnam:

•Do news organizations need to do more to explain how a reporter's past experiences are of benefit to the journalism?

I think the answer is yes, of course. The NPR Web site might be a good place for those background explanations of who the reporter is. And…

•Can NPR -- or any news organization for that matter -- report so-called "good" stories from a war zone without it sounding like pro-war propaganda?

I think it can, but only if great care and candor is taken about what is being reported and by whom.

Efforts by the military to assist in the reconstruction are not the main story. The main story has been the insurgency and attempts by the United States to implant some form of democracy in a country with little or no democratic traditions. Reports about how the military has reopened schools, reconnected the electrical grid or built a new sewage treatment plant are legitimate, but secondary. Any time these stories have aired I have received e-mails of complaint from an increasingly skeptical public about how the media is being "snookered."

Different Views From Iraq?

At the same time, there should be room for Bill Putnam's type of news stories from Iraq, whether by freelancers or NPR reporters. But listeners need to be reassured (as has been done by North Country Public Radio) that this reporting is not happening at the expense of the overall war coverage. In my opinion, NPR has done an extraordinary job in reporting this war in all its unpleasant facets. But there should be room for those stories of humanity and compassion in a war zone.

Finding that journalistic balance is no small challenge for any news organization.

Ms. Ghamari-Tabrizi should be thanked for raising an important issue about labels, and questioning what constitutes a journalist, especially at a time when all journalism is seen as much too porous when it comes to influences exerted by governments and pressure groups, including the U.S. military.