Leadership in my Field

Keegan Wiggins

Western Carolina University

 Leadership in my Field

The journalism industry’s main objective is to always serve the public by providing

objective, unbiased information and prides itself on putting the people first. Journalists often

consider themselves the foundation of democracy. As a result, it is the role of the journalist to

keep the public informed. By employing elements of leadership like servant and transformational

leadership and the social change model, journalists like Sherly WuDunn and Nicholas D.

Kristoff, as well as others, can make a real impact in the world.

In the journalism industry, the principle leadership theory that is applicable is servant

leadership. Servant leadership was first coined Robert K. Greenleaf and stated that a leader is a

servant first. Servant leaders put the needs of others before themselves by acknowledging others’

perspectives, providing support, involving them in decisions, and building a sense of community

(Mind Tools). When it comes to journalism, the team can be viewed as the public instead. It is a

journalist’s objective to put the public’s interest at heart. For example, the Society of

Professional Journalists has a Code of Ethics that they encourage journalists to follow. In the

industry, it is heavily frowned upon when a journalist breaks this code. The preamble states,

“Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the

forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the

free exchange of information that is accurate, fair, and thorough. An ethical journalist acts with

integrity” (SPJ, 2020). Overall, a journalist’s main priority is to serve the public’s interest by

keeping them informed.

In some instances, journalists can serve the public as transformational leaders. A

transformation leader is someone that encourages, inspires, and motivates followers to create

change within the organization (White, 2018). In 1973, James Downton created transformational
leadership, and in 1985, Bernard Bass further developed the model. To this day, transformational

leadership is applicable across various industries, especially journalism. In the journalism

industry, the transformational leadership model is heavily used by journalists that also serve as

advocates. Journalistic advocates make up a niche within the industry because the principal role

of journalism is to inform using unbiased information, and being an advocate includes an

element of persuasion. However, the industry does not dismiss the impactful role these types of

journalists have in the world. There are plenty of examples where journalists have released work

that fits under this niche. Typically, work that follows this model is also accompanied by stories

that provide the information in an objective format. For example, some classmates and I created

a podcast that featured people of campus that faced discrimination. Our podcast interviewed

students from Intercultural Affairs, Sex and Gender Alliance, Latin American Student

Organization, and international students. While our podcast aimed to encourage students to take

action against discrimination on campus, we also covered stories about discrimination on campus

with information about our students’ code of ethics.

A strong example of two journalists that are also advocates is Sheryl WuDunn and

Nicholas D. Kristoff. Together, they have done extensive research on human rights violations

throughout the world. Their most notable piece is their book Half the Sky, which covers

women’s rights violations in parts of Africa and Asia. Their publication does a fantastic job of

detailing all the abuses from women in Africa suffering from fistulas and inadequate healthcare

to women in Asia that are denied an education. While the book describes these violations,

WuDunn and Kristoff do an excellent job of highlighting women in those regions that are doing

something to combat these violations. For example, they follow Mahabouba, a woman that

suffered from a fistula and had been left for dead, as she learned to repair fistulas and now works
alongside doctors at the same hospital that had helped her (Half the Sky). At the end of their

book, Kristoff and WuDunn highlight many organizations that their readers can engage with to

help alleviate women’s rights violations in the developing world.

The work of transformational journalists like WuDunn and Kristoff also employs the

use of the Social Change Model. This model was developed by the Higher Education Research

Institute of UCLA. This model emphasizes the need to understand oneself and others to create

change within a community. It has three different perspectives: individual, group, and

community. Within these three perspectives, there are seven core elements: consciousness of

self, congruence, commitment, collaboration, common purpose, controversy with civility, and

citizenship (UCLA). While journalism might not employ all of the elements of this model, the

objective of a piece may fit into various components. For example, while WuDunn and Kristoff’s

book uses all of these elements at different points, the story following Mahabouba analyzes her

individual elements merged with group elements of the hospital. They then encouraged the

readers to examine how their individual elements can blend with those. Their work demonstrates

how reporting can inspire people to take part in the social change model and help to create

change in a community further.

As an upcoming journalist, the way that information is delivered to an audience can

make or break the story. There are some instances where it’s in the public’s interest solely to

inform them by providing unbiased, objective information. An example of this would be

reporting on a riot or terrorist attack. However, covering topics like human rights violations or

climate change are suitable for journalistic advocates where transformational leadership and

social change model can be used. As a result, a journalist needs to recognize what role the public

requires of them.
 Taking all of this into consideration, journalism regularly employs elements of

leadership like transformational and servant leadership and the social change model to create

change throughout the world. The key to being a successful journalist is knowing when to

employ these styles to tell a compelling and impactful story.

 References

Kristoff, N.D. & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the Sky: How to Change the World. Random House,

United States.

Mind Tools. (n.d.). Servant Leadership: Putting Your Team First, Yourself Second. Retrieved

from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/servant-leadership.htm

Society of Professional Journalists. (2020). SPJ Code of Ethics. Retrieved from

https://www.spj.org/pdf/spj-code-of-ethics.pdf

University of California at Berkeley. (n.d.). Social Change Model Explained. Retrieved from

https://www2.cortland.edu/dotAsset/190474.pdf

White, S. (2018). What is transformational leadership? A model for motivating innovation. CIO.

Retrieved from https://www.cio.com/article/3257184/what-is-transformational-

leadership-a-model-for-motivating-innovation.html