Elements of Journalism, Chap 1

cm 1 35 an introduction t o journal isml

BRUCE CLARY INSTRUCTOR

The Purpose of JournalismAnd Why Its Future Is at Risk



What is journalism for?



What is journalism for?

“The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing.”



What is government for?



What is government for?

“The primary purpose of government is _______ ___________________________________.”



“Two constitutional principles have clashed: the government’s view of national security and the newspapers’ view of their freedom to print.”

Eric Sevareid, CBS NewsJune 30, 1971



Journalism is so fundamentalto the concept of creating

community and democracy that…



…a free press was among the first rights the Founding Fathers of this country felt it necessary to secure in the Bill of Rights.



Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.



Journalism is so fundamentalto the concept of creating

community and democracy that…



…societies that want to suppress freedom must first suppress the press.

Recent Examples?



Threats to Journalism Today




•Internet




•Internet•Shifts in reader/consumer behaviors




•Internet•Shifts in reader/consumer behaviors •Government




•Internet•Shifts in reader/consumer behaviors •Government•Self-destructive behaviors and attitudes




•Internet•Shifts in reader/consumer behaviors •Government•Self-destructive behaviors and attitudes•Corporate conglomerations




•Internet•Shifts in reader/consumer behaviors •Government•Self-destructive behaviors and attitudes•Corporate conglomerations•Globalization



Threats from the Internet




•Blogs




•Blogs•Citizen journalism




•Blogs•Citizen journalism•Movement of advertising away from traditional media




•Blogs•Citizen journalism•Movement of advertising away from traditional media•News aggregators



Self-destructive Behaviors and Attitudes




•Plagiarism, betraying public trust




•Plagiarism, betraying public trust•Responding to business pressures by appealing lowest

common denominator




•Plagiarism, betraying public trust•Responding to business pressures by appealing lowest

common denominator•Arrogance about journalism’s gatekeeper role



Journalistic Arrogance and the Theory of Democracy




Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (1922)•Democracy an unattainable end due to the media’s

weaknesses and the public’s disinterest and ignorance




Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (1922)•Democracy an unattainable end due to the media’s

weaknesses and the public’s disinterest and ignorance

John Dewey, Review of Public Opinion (1922)•Democracy (and, thus, reliable journalism) not an

ends but a means; the end is individual liberty and self-realization, not efficient government







•Lippmann’s view of the populace still influential





•This view of the elitist press deciding what the ignorant common person needs to know has alienated citizens from the journalism they need to remain free





•This view of the elitist press deciding what the ignorant common person needs to know has alienated citizens from the journalism they need to remain free

•This is the context in which Kovach and Rosenstiel propose the Theory of the Interlocking Public



The Theory of the Interlocking Public




Involved




Involved Interested




Involved Interested

Uninterested

News & Politics

Elements of Journalism, Chap 1