Parsley, sage, rosemary and journalism

By Joel Thurtell

There’s a lot of yackity-yack from traditional journalists about how bloggers don’t adhere to the same high standards as our morally superior print cousins.

In this exalted view, practitioners of the old format — for example, newspapers — don’t cut corners. They know how to properly source their stories. They don’t bend the rules.

Now comes the case of the law professor who’s been paid to shill for Detroit bridgemeister Manuel “Matty” Moroun.

Thanks to WDET-FM, we now know that Wayne State University law Professor Robert Sedler was paid by Matty’s lawyers to give “expert” testimony on Moroun’s Ambassador Bridge and a proposed government-sponsored second bridge to the Michigan Senate.

The professor went on a WDET talk show and claimed that the new bridge is “unconstitutional.” JOTR Copy Editor Spike Kopee has dismantled that claim, but my concern is with the fact that self-styled “experts” like Sedler all too often are quoted in the media as if they are knowledgeable and unbiased referees.

Well do I remember when I was a reporter at the Detroit Free Press being instructed by editors to call Prof. Sedler and other talking heads for comment. Whatever the story, there were profs like Sedler at various universities ready to spin quotable quotes for reporters.

Great for the university — gets it some free publicity.

Great for the prof — raises his or her profile.

Why would the prof want his or her profile raised?

One might surmise that it would help in, say, getting an academic article published, or maybe finding a publisher for a book, if the prof had a media presence.

But that media presence could up the ante in another way, by putting the prof on the map when it comes to hiring out to corporations needing a publicly visible spokesman who is seen as knowledgeable and unbiased and above all, possessing that aura of authority and intellectual invincibility that comes from being a university professor.

Oh yes, the connection to an academic institution really enhances that credibility.

But it’s a sham when the prof is on some private, intersted party’s payroll.

Hard to be unbiased when you’re cashing a check for spinning your tale.

The link to academia loses some of its sheen when we learn that the “expert” is being paid by some corporation or other institution with a built-in  prejudice in favor of one side.

Seems like the link to lucre would tarnish the university’s reputation a little. Maybe somebody — a WSU trustee, say? — might want to look into whether there is an ethical issue here.

But media folk love these talking heads. On deadline, they need those quotes, and they need them now.

I don’t recall an editor ever suggesting I ask the professor, whomever it might be, from whatever college or university, if he was on the take for a particular side of the issue.

Get the quote!

You see, traditional journalism is about form. It is put together according to a recipe. There is a lead, which supposedly summarizes the story, usually picking the most dramatic aspect of the story even if it is not the most important.

There is a “nut graf,” a paragraph that re-spins the lead, broadening it and comparing it to the rest of the world. This is sometimes called the “cosmic graf.”

Then comes the explanation. This is where things could get real boring real fast.

So the journalist must try to spice up the story to keep readers reading. The idea for Page One stories is to entice readers to open the newspaper and “jump” in where the paying advertisements are nestled next to the journalism.

This is where a good spice rack comes in handy.

Spices can be quotes from real people saying things within quotation marks.

Quote marks signify life, realism, excitement in the minds of some editors and reporters.

Go out and get some quotes.

Here is where guys like Prof. Sedler come in handy. They are treasure troves of quotable quotes.

They have the gift of gab.

What about their credibility?

What about asking if they’ve taken any pay for holding their particular opinion?

Might want to add that to the reporter’s checklist.

I’m hoping that the Sedler case will tip off journalists that grabbing quick quotes should entail asking if the “expert” has a pony in the race.

Otherwise, the format drives the journalism, and it’s hard to tell whether the spices have been tainted.

Parsley, sage, rosemary and cite.

Drop me a line at joelthurtell@gmail.com