We quit maritime journalism in 2009 to focus on blogging. No regrets. During our long stint as a shipping, ports and energy journalist, we got to know some editors and reporters who were thoroughly professional. A few could be considered brilliant. Yet, certain things dampened our pride in the profession – certain traits and practices which, unfortunately, we still observe today in some quarters of the maritime press. Here’s a list of the most common:
1. Obsession with the scoop – The desire to beat everyone else to a news story, sometimes at the expense of thoughtful reporting, is really atavistic given the speed with which information is transmitted in today’s social media.
2. Filching of stories – The practice is totally wrong but fairly common, particularly amongst correspondents who pick up locally published stories and bump them off to their foreign publishers.
3. Writing with insufficient knowlege – How could any reporter write about the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, without having read the full text of the protocol? Or about shipping in general without being familiar with the different types of ships?
4. Sloppy writing and editing – Even the best of them can be guilty – like a leading shipping newspaper saying the Costa Concordia ‘sank off the island of Giglio’ in Italy. ‘Capsized’ would have been closer to what happened.
5. Indisciminate use of press releases – The maritime press has virtually become a facsimile machine for PR agencies, many editors too lazy to re-write what are often promotional materials disguised as news stories.
6. Misplaced pride – The power of the press has led to lack of humility, arrogance and a false sense of entitlement amongst some maritime journalists.
7. Selling of editorial space – This must be the greatest sin of all. When the boundary between editorial and advertising space is obliterated (e.g., through the use of advertorials or the acceptance of money for a write-up), what happens to editorial integrity?
~Barista Uno
Dear Barista,
I have been enjoying your Blog since 2011 & I am sure you must have been an excellent journalist. It is really enjoyable to read your posts. However, to add something to your list, these days you can hardly find brave writers who write the truth & challenge the powers. This can in particular be seen when you look at the shipping industry where seafarers’ rights and humanitarian issues are totally ignored.
Sincerely,
Capt.Ardeshir Yousefi
ASTA Marine Services
Vancouver/Canada
Thanks very much for your kind words, Captain.
You are absolutely correct about maritime journalists not questioning the established order. The IMO holding the copyright to STCW and all other IMO conventions is certainly questionable, but the issue has not been taken up by the maritime press.
Perhaps the worst thing that has happened to maritime journalism is the herd mentality amongst many of its practitioners. There is simply too much uniformity in content and even writing style.
Cheers.
Thanks for a fascinating post.
I am a PR (please, don’t hiss!) and a relative newcomer to the industry. One of the things I’ve struggled with is finding decent industry stats and facts.
I always enjoy reading your blog, this has been a real eye opener!
Alexander, thank you for dropping by and taking time to comment.
The blog has nothing against PR practitioners. We are, in fact, advocates of PR in the maritime industry, where many players seem to be in need of it.
The problem is when editors and reporters are less than professional or are too lazy to do what they’re supposed to.