Beyond the Story with host Ali Bergeron and guest Nancy Cohen:

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Nancy COHEN: If you become a doctor, you need to pass the medical boards. If you become a lawyer, you have to pass the bar. If you become a journalist, you don't have to pass anything. You don't even need a degree. You can just call yourself a journalist. So all we have is our integrity. That is the most important thing.

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Ali BERGERON: Hello and welcome to Beyond the Story! This is your host, Ali Bergeron, joining you here in this bright new year from the Center for Media Production at Smith College. Just moments ago, we heard an excerpt from Nancy Cohen, award-winning journalist, public media reporter, and teacher. Nancy joins me in the studio today to talk about ethics in journalism. Nancy, could you expand on the excerpt we just heard by telling us a little bit about why integrity is so important to your journalistic work? 

COHEN: I think it's important to understand the role of journalism in a democracy, and I think it's really important to have objective stories told fairly, representing a diversity of opinions, to have that kind of fact-based, well-researched, objective, as objective as it can be, news stories, so that people can make up their own minds. And it has an impact. It has an impact on communities. It has an impact on decisions that people make. It informs people about everything from health to arts to politics.

BERGERON: And how has the importance of journalism’s role influenced your own work?

COHEN: You need to make decisions. You also have to think critically about your work, about the ethics that you're bringing to your reporting, to your journalism, and you have to know enough to stop sometimes, and to ask questions about what is ethically the right thing to do in a story. It's not just skills. It's not just knowing how to write, knowing how to record sound. It's also knowing how to be in the world and how to put together work that has as much integrity as possible.

BERGERON: Thank you so much, Nancy. I’d like to offer the opportunity for any listeners with questions for Nancy to call in now at (413) 585-3474. We have time for one more question.

BERGERON: We’ve got Marisa on the line all the way from California. Thanks for calling in!

CALLER: Hi, thank you! My question is, what advice do you have for any aspiring journalists? 

COHEN: Journalism is for people who love it. Your heart should pound with excitement when you're doing an interview and you hear somebody say something that you know is going to make it into your story and you know is going to touch your readers or your listeners or your viewers. You should really love this work because it's really hard work. It demands a lot of you. The hours can be long. The pay can be low. You're not going to go into it for the money, and you shouldn't go into it for the glory. You should go into it for the readers, for the listeners, for the viewers, for the community, for the people that we serve. 

BERGERON: And with that, thank you, dear listeners, for tuning in to Beyond the Story and letting us share our stories with you. I would also like to thank Nancy for joining me on the show today. 

For more writing resources, visit www.beyondthestory.smith.edu [a fabricated website]. 

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