"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

By Katie Thompson

“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” The title of this famous Clint Eastwood film describes the different styles of journalism represented in Jo Kadlecek’s book, A Minute Before Friday.

The book follows the story of Jonna Lightfoot MacLaughlin, a religion reporter for a New York City newspaper, The Clarion, and the journalistic and moral issues that she encounters.

The main conflict arises when MacLaughlin is informed that an Ivy League school, Regal University, has been secretly withholding funds from Christian clubs and organizations that were donated specifically for that purpose.

It is in the coverage of this story that Bill Kovach’s The Elements of Journalism can be seen in good, bad and ugly forms.

The Ugly: The ugly journalism is practiced by Walter Wood, a man new to The Clarion who has a vision to take the paper in a new direction, one in which sales and profits are the top priority. Wood has missed that journalism’s first loyalty is to the citizens, not to profit. Wood manipulated some of MacLaughlin’s stories in such a way that he believed would sell more copies. He was also not willing to put MacLaughlin’s story about the scandal at Regal in print because he thought the public wouldn’t be interested. The work of a journalist is to present the facts and let the citizen’s interpret them, and Wood eliminated this crucial aspect of journalism by not printing the story.

The Bad: The bad journalism is seen in Skip Gravely, MacLaughlin’s long time friend and editor. In the past Gravely had always insisted that journalism’s first obligation is to the truth and its first loyalty is to the citizens. This was why MacLaughlin was shocked when he refused to allow her story about Regal to print. It seemed as though Wood’s economic motives had rubbed off on him and his status as a Regal alumni may also have provided a reason for not wanting to tarnish the University’s reputation. Skip failed as a journalist- he was not interested in the truth and denied the citizen’s the right to know it.

The Good: MacLaughlin and fellow reporter Hannah Hensley represented the good journalism in this story. MacLaughlin’s first obligation was to the truth and she stopped at nothing to get it. She knew that illegal activity was taking place, and felt it her responsibility to expose it. Aside from being loyal to the truth and the citizens, she also practiced the discipline of verification. She found reliable sources and documents to confirm and strengthen her case. Hannah believed in these basic elements of journalism as well and helped her with uncovering the scandal. When MacLaughlin was just about to give up, Hensley helped her by going directly to the sources and demanding information- a picture of journalism at its best. It was Hensley who ultimately brought the story to a Senator, who released the information at a press conference and exposed Regal’s wrong doing.

Wood and Gravely failed to be a “voice for the voiceless”, however MacLaughlin and Hensley never ceased in their search for the truth and eventually were able to provide that much needed voice.