NAHJ Urges Aguilar Reinstatement
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is attempting to persuade KDFW-TV Fox 4 to reinstate reporter Rebecca Aguilar. 
They state:
The NAHJ fails to mention that Aguilar stood in Mr. Walton's car door, preventing him from closing it and backing out of his parking place. They fail to mention the accusatory tone and bias in her voice as she reduced a WWII veteran to tears. Mr. Walton was forced to defend his integrity within days of twice defending his life. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists does not mention that the journalistic principles they speak of are available for all to review.
To wit:
1. Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.
2. It's first loyalty is to citizens.
3. It's essence is a discipline of verification.
4. It's practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
9. It's practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
It appears the NAHJ is more interested in their posterchild for journalistic integrity, not in the journalistic principles they claim to uphold. What do you think? Go here to tell 'em!
They state:"Aguilar was suspended after interviewing a 70-year-old man who shot and killed two burglars at his business. She was suspended after a deluge of calls and criticism by bloggers. NAHJ affirms that journalistic principles, not special-interest driven community response, should determine if a reporter stays on the air."Yes, a "special-interest driven community response" is happening. It's called the "fed up to here with biased bullshit as news" special-interest group. An astute observer will note there was no blogswarm concerning previous stories by Ms. Aguilar, or about Mr. Walton, just this particular one.
The NAHJ fails to mention that Aguilar stood in Mr. Walton's car door, preventing him from closing it and backing out of his parking place. They fail to mention the accusatory tone and bias in her voice as she reduced a WWII veteran to tears. Mr. Walton was forced to defend his integrity within days of twice defending his life. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists does not mention that the journalistic principles they speak of are available for all to review.
To wit:
1. Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.
2. It's first loyalty is to citizens.
3. It's essence is a discipline of verification.
4. It's practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
9. It's practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
It appears the NAHJ is more interested in their posterchild for journalistic integrity, not in the journalistic principles they claim to uphold. What do you think? Go here to tell 'em!
Labels: James Walton
posted by Xavier at 5:32 PM
6 Comments:
Isnt the National Association Of Hispanic Journalists a special interest group?
Full disclosure: I’m a proud NAHJ member. But…
This story reeked of tabloid journalism at its worst (or best?). The man has not been charged with a crime. (A fact that was not revealed until the end of the piece). It seemed to me the reporter was on a mission to slant the story no matter what to have the man appear to be a trigger-happy gun-toter when, in fact, he was well within his right to protect his property and himself. (He lives at his place of business). He did not break any laws. So what was the point of this story?
From what I can tell, the station has not suspended the story’s producer and news director. Someone had to OK this story for air. They should pay the price as well. While I agree that news organizations should remain steadfast while upholding its high journalistic principles, such a stance is not required in this case. This was just plain bad journalism. This should have never aired.
I read the comments on their blog. They're pretty excoriative against the reinstatement demand, and they're from purported hispanics.
Even LD threw in, with his usual splendid form.
Myself, I'm amazed LULAC and MALDEF haven't been screaming from the rooftops about 'unjust removal' on her behalf.
Regards,
Rabbit.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2345541101488819878&postID=6084667006705975767
Wonder how long she would have lingered in his doorway if he had opened the bax and started to assemble the new shotgun?
You know, the irony is that I would say "special-interest driven community response" is exactly what NAHJ, LULAC and other such organizations are all about fomenting. They're ok with stirring up the stench of shit, so long as it's aimed at other folks, but in the harsh light of day, they can't stand up to it.
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