Race, Ethics and Excellent Journalism

Context is the key to good reporting, says Poynter teacher

by Megan Caluza

Keith Woods is on the ethics faculty at the Poynter Institute. He encourages deeper, richer, more meaningful coverage of race relations and under-covered groups and communities by combining ethics, excellent journalism, and the aggressive pursuit of diversity in coverage, content, and hiring. He is project director for "Media Diversity Beyond 2000," a joint effort between Poynter and The Ford Foundation that seeks to discover and highlight what makes diversity efforts succeed. Woods has published articles in ethics and diversity textbooks, including: "The Press in Times of Crisis," "Media Ethics: Issues & Cases," "Journalism Ethics," and "The Diversity Factor." He joined Poynter in 1997 after working as an editorial writer, columnist, city editor, and award-winning news reporter and sportswriter at The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. He earned his bachelor's of arts degree from Dillard University and his master's degree in social work at Tulane University. Woods can be reached at kwoods@poynter.org. How should we tackle the issue of race, nationality or religion when writing about people's views of the terrorist attacks?
Who we are individually is more often informing us of what we think and how we act. It has a place in reporting. But you have to be careful so the reporting is thorough enough to have a place. It is important at some points. Sometimes I am speaking as a black man, other times I am speaking as an American. If someone is speaking as an American, regardless of race, mentioning it will change the meaning of what is said. Ethnicity may have nothing to do with what is said. A good journalist doesn't assume, he finds out. It's not only accurate, but also authentic. Do you think that coverage of African American issues during Black History Month does a good job of highlighting issues, or should African American issues get this coverage year round?
I don't think it's an either or proposition. Black History Month has become so many different things I don't think it's fair to talk about them collectively. In some places it's true history, informing people of their history or rather the history they have been robbed of, and some organizations are doing that. Other organizations put a black face in the paper with a story. The range is wide, and you're talking about individual issues and organizations. Having said that I think it's important that organizations take advantage of the attention in February. Universities and corporations are calling attention to issues and you don't want to miss the chance to inform people. At the same time the year round coverage does not suffer because of this. How has coverage of race relations changed in the time since you first became a journalist?
I think first of all it has become less black and white. It includes Latinos, Asians and Native Americans. It's moving away from saint and sinner coverage which journalists are reporting on the vilest racist or they're reporting on people without a racist bone in their body. Neither constitutes the majority. Beyond that I think it's maintained a level of superficiality which is not covering the gray area, where people have a little bit of saint and sinner. What do you think is the biggest problem in news coverage today?
Our biggest problem is the absence of context. There is not enough three-dimensional information on a daily basis. It gives us the illusion of information as much as it gives us actual information. What is one thing journalists can do to ensure better coverage of race relations?
Step away from the notion that every story has to be about a person that is or is not a racist. Help people to understand that to truly change what we're doing as a people, around the issue of race, we have to be able to see ourselves as part of the problem and part of the solution. I think that we can provide more context to stories about race and help people to understand not just what happened, but what preceded what happened. When you give context it becomes much easier for people to understand the issues and racial conflicts but also to be able to provide the opportunity to solve it. What inspired you to teach?
I always viewed what I do as teaching, it just transitioned in form. The thing that inspired me to teach in journalism is the desire to be a positive influence of change in this industry. What is your favorite source of news and why?
The local newspaper. I guess I have to say the St. Petersburg Times. My interests are fairly eclectic. I prefer local papers. They tend to be national and international news with a reflection of the local environment. Any town I am in, I read them a great deal. What do you do with your down time, when you're not teaching or writing?
I love reading -- fiction finally. I like fishing, I play piano when I get a chance, sunsets. Peaceful things.