Media should not be blamed for failing to predict the global financial crisis, because its most valuable role is to act as a mirror, giving the public a complete and accurate picture of what’s happening, according to the Global Editor-in-Chief of Reuters news.

Journalism’s job is not to act as a crystal ball or prognosticator, David Schlesinger, the Reuters top news executive, leading globally 2,700 journalists, told students in a lecture on the financial crisis on Sept. 17 at the School of Journalism & Communication, Tsinghua University.

While admitting some news organizations and reporters might not have done a good job, he said there is a “contradiction between the expectations people have of media and the realities of what journalists actually can do best.”

“Journalism at its best is a mirror, exposing back to society a true and brutally honest picture of what is going on,” said Mr. Schlesinger.

That, he said, is in itself “a great service and one that we should be proud of when we do it well.”

Mr. Schlesinger said he is proud of Reuters record in covering the Chinese economy. For example, Reuters was the first to break the news of the tripling of the trading tax in 2007 to cool the runaway stock market. It also tried to report how China avoided the biggest traps of the global financial meltdown.

However, Reuters may have concentrated too much on the risks involved in China’s breakneck stimulus strategies.

“We may have understated the benefits during the crisis of heavy state involvement in investment decisions around the country,” he said.

Mr. Schlesinger also questioned whether the press has not focused sufficiently on some important global issues other than the financial crisis.

“Is our reporting on global warming a truly good mirror for what is going on? Is our reporting on looming issues with resource supplies or the coming water shortages shining the light where it needs to be shone?” he asked.

Mr. Schlesinger’s speech received warm applauses from the floor. Students raised various questions ranging from journalistic professionalism to new media development.

Liu Qi, a third-year student in the Global Business Journalism program said the lecture gave her a clearer picture of the media’s role in the financial crisis. “The principle of reflecting the facts as truthfully as possible will be a guideline in my future career as a young journalist.”