By Phil Riske | Rose Law Group Reporter Managing Editor
Rose Law Group Reporter brings lawyers, journalists and corporate types under the same roof. Last week, the Pew Research Center placed those occupations under a dark cloud as being somewhat worthless.
“A journalist, a business executive and a lawyer walked into a bar . . . and were promptly told, ‘We don’t need your kind around here,’ ” began a story in Phoenix Business Journal about how its readers rated 10 professions on their contributions to society
Only 28 percent of respondents said journalists contribute a lot to society’s well-being — that’s down 10 percentage points from 2009, according to the survey.
Business executives were valued by 24 percent, an improvement from 21 percent in 2009, “when Wall Street nearly wrecked our economy,” the newspaper reported.
Eighteen percent thought lawyers contribute a lot to society.
It would be easy, if not expected, for this journalist, who works for a law firm, to refute the newspaper’s findings, but they follow results reported in numerous surveys over the past decade. Those same surveys also have shown the public has had no love for Congress, but respondents liked their individual senators and representatives.
It would be safe to assume individuals like their attorneys and they have favorites in the media (especially TV weather people, although they aren’t real journalists.)
Recent actions by an attorney and a television news “team” probably would have taken the value percentages of those occupations down a few more notches.
In the George Zimmerman murder trial, defense attorney Donald West began his opening arguments with: “Knock, knock . . . Who’s there? . . . George Zimmerman . . . George Zimmerman who? . . . Congratulations, you’re on the jury.” That, of course, fell flatter then a pancake run over by a steamroller.
Then, a journalistic disaster came after last week’s crash landing in San Francisco.
Asiana Airlines is considering legal action against the television station that used false and racist names for four pilots on board the fatal plane crash. The embattled airline claims its reputation has been “badly damaged” after San Francisco’s KTVU television station broadcast fake and insulting names, such as ‘Captain Sum Ting Wong’, with a graphic of the phony titles, The Associated Press reported.
The media are highly influential on public opinion, and KTVU’s unimaginable and inexcusable mistake serves only to solidify journalists’ rung on the ladder of occupational esteem.
Both attorney West and KTVU have sickened the majority of lawyers and journalists who would not have done what they did.
The bottom line of all this is a question: What are the legal and journalism professions doing to better explain what they do and why they should be appreciated?
They do deserve much more appreciation.
Rest of the survey
The military ranked No. 1, followed by teachers, medical doctors, scientists and engineers. Clergy ranked No. 6.
