The “Fourth Estate” or Fourth “Branch”
Reporters, members of the press, they’ve long considered themselves the “Fourth Estate,” meaning they are as essential to a free society as are the other parts of government. And notice how the press won’t say they’re the “4th branch of government” because that might suggest they are not independent of the government.
But look at a reporter’s career track, or career ladder. Once you do, you might conclude that “branch of government” is more appropriate than “estate.”
One thing is clear: For many reporters, the pinnacle of their career will be when they ditch their low-paying journalism job to take a high five-figure or low six-figure government job as a public information officer.
Doubt me? Check out this list of former reporters now on the government payroll:
That’s just a list of current spokespeople who previously held reporting jobs. Go back over the last 10 years, and you’d find the ranks of government equally populated with former reporters.
But it begs the question…if you’re a reporter, say at the Denver Post, are you going to be especially tough on a government agency where you might be applying for a substantially better-paying job in just six months?
PS – I think this list is short on names, so if you could drop us a line and point out some more folks who ought to be on the list, we’d appreciate it.
You may be making a mountain out of a mole hill. Imagine you’re hiring for a public information officer. Who are you going to hire?
* Someone with a journalism degree with no experience?
* A reporter from out of state who doesn’t know your demographics?
* Or are you going to hire a a local, established reporter that you’re familiar with?
Of course you’re going to hire the local, established reporter! It would be dumb to place your public face on someone you don’t know or trust.
On the reporter side, I don’t see tossing softball questions at possible future employers as a good career move. If I’m hiring for a PIO, I want someone who can answer the hard questions with respect and class. If a reporter isn’t going to ask hard questions with respect and class, how do I know that reporter can answer them?
15 May 2010 at 2:48 am
Having worked with you over the years and having always gone out of my way to include your view point in my news stories, it was disappointing to see you have such a negative and uninformed opinion about journalists and our career choices. It was troubling to see you try and trash my reputation without even talking to me. You have no idea, why I am now working in education, but make broad assumptions about my motives and integrity. I have never skewed a story to win favor with someone in hopes that it would lead to a job in the future. I know most of the other people you named, and I can’t imagine any of them would do that either. Journalists are taught not to make generalizations about a group of diverse people and expect to maintain any credibility. I would hope that standard would apply to bloggers, commentators and talk show hosts as well.
15 May 2010 at 12:03 pm
government jobs are still the best when it comes to job security ~,”
28 Oct 2010 at 6:14 am
Didn’t Wei Wong go to Douglas County Schools. I know there are more out there.
By the way, Steve you sound overly defensive! I think Caldara brings up a good point.
06 Jul 2011 at 11:27 pm