To estimate the number of people slaughtered in a battle, it’s easiest to count the heads. It was the first lesson Scott Simon learned about war coverage while on assignment in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Since then, the host of National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition Saturday” has reported on wars in Kosovo and Kabul, covered post-Sept. 11 Ground Zero and interviewed Ozzy Osbourne.

Simon attracted a full audience to Hendricks Chapel on Tuesday, where he discussed the future of journalism, new media technology and the art of surprise. His lecture, “Covering the World,” was one of eight cross-disciplinary University Lectures held at Syracuse University this school year.

“In the future, will journalism be a profession or a hobby?” Simon asked.

Simon discussed how it is becoming more difficult to determine what news is true with rules, ethics and profits straddling the line of professional journalism and amateur blogging. As technology makes news coverage easier, he said, professional reporters now have to compete with civilian Twitter updates, mobile phone calls and video posts to report on events in real time, such as the earthquake in Chile.

Elizabeth Reyes, a sophomore photography major, said she was intrigued by the importance Simon placed on social media tools when reporting.

“I was surprised to hear he uses Twitter, but I guess it makes sense,” she said.

Simon also discussed how news organizations that focus primarily on pleasing a certain demographic are not being truthful to their audience.

“When you lose surprise of the audience, you sacrifice what real journalism is supposed to do,” he said. “You have to sometimes outrage them.”

While some news organizations may label themselves as liberal or conservative, Simon said “Weekend Edition Saturday” and the other NPR programs try to appeal to the whole country and report things that are interesting, regardless of the reactions they may provoke.

Despite the lecture’s title, “Covering the World,” Simon only briefly mentioned specific experiences he had while reporting in the field. Ruitong Zhu, a freshman international relations major, said she was disappointed by the lecture.

“I was expecting more discussion about his work experience throughout the world,” she said.

While he may not have discussed much about his experience covering the world, he did talk about the importance of diversity in reporting, in the newsroom and in his own family.

“My wife is French Catholic, I’m from a diverse religious background and my daughters are from China. I’m the only American. Take that, Lou Dobbs,” he said to a laughing crowd.

Although journalists face difficulties reporting diversity, as well as learning new technologies, he said the journalism world has always been confronted with struggles. When Simon started at NPR in the 1980s, he received a similar warning today’s journalists are hearing.

“Journalism has never confronted as grave a crisis and threat to its existence as it does today,” he said. “That’s what they told me 25 years ago.”

Published on March 9, 2010 at 12:00 pm