3 ms·
Why is journalism necessary? The premise of journalism is that society is made better by masses of people reading entertaining narrative stories about public f
by neilk 14y ago
Why is journalism necessary?
The premise of journalism is that society is made better by masses of people reading entertaining narrative stories about public figures. The stories don't have to be true. You just have to be (a) insulated from adverse legal outcomes, and (b) the story shouldn't bring the newspaper into disrepute among the people who read it or the people who pay the bills.
In other areas of life, when we need information disseminated to people who need to know, we don't immediately reach out to talented and entertaining writers. We might create data collection system, reporting systems, alert systems, computerized dashboards, systems of peer review, systems to identify people who provide reliable information, that sort of thing. We may sometimes want stories about daily life, but for that you might call on the services of an anthropologist, not a poet.
So why, when it comes to public affairs, do we think we need the ink-stained wretch? Perhaps because that's how it's been done for the past few centuries. Enfranchisement reached the common person slowly, and information reached the masses via printed documents, which were a mix of necessary daily information and entertainment. For most of that time, the press was as ridiculous as it is now, and usually far more partisan. The period in the middle of the 20th century, when it at least aspired to civic-mindedness, was the anomaly.
Let us not take for granted that an informed public and the institution of journalism are synonymous.
Disclaimer: ex-journalism student
- asperous 14y agoWe need journalism because we don't all have the time and resources to track a story or investigate upcoming trends, cultures, or ideas. If you aren't interested in what is going on around you, or you just prefer to just "read the data" from public, government, or non-profit outlets then you might not see a need for journalism. "Community-curated" journalism seems to have replaced much of the "low hanging fruit" that magazines and newspapers used to print.
- neilk 14y agoThere is a need for people to propose hypotheses about the data that's out there. And to propose plans of action. And this information needs to reach people who can do something with it. Does it immediately follow that we need someone writing inverted-pyramid wire service copy? All I'm saying is, journalism is not an end in itself. It is at best, a means to an end. We want a prosperous and just society where everyone is empowered, and part of that is wide information distribution. But there could be many roads to get there.
- joshu 14y agoJournalism that covers the goings on and oversight of government is necessary... but sorely lacking.
- knowtheory 14y agoWe can talk about all of the terrible problems that the business of making news has, but when it comes down to investigative journalism and the shit that reporting actually does for society, I am hard pressed to say that we should abandon Journalism (in fact i think it's pretty crazy). Having spent 2 years amongst journalists, I can say this, for all of the weaknesses journalists have when it comes to specificity and accuracy in comparison to academia, there is no other field of inquiry that is tied closer to the public and the public's needs. (My caveat at this point being that commentary is almost always not journalism) And even for all of the unhealthy relationships between the press and centers of power in the US, there are still some intra-governmental conversations and differences that only get hashed out through the press. I'd make the argument that the press as a 4th estate is a vitally important part civic life in a free society.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]