Newspapers Are Front Line In Democracy
The state of journalism in general, and the role of newspapers in particular is a favorite topic of mine to read and think about. Madison’s Mayor Dave Cieslewicz penned a post for his blog that I think is tone perfect on this matter. I offer a portion of it below.
I agree with Mayor Dave that blogs are not the professional objective news reporting source that best serves a democracy. The morning newspaper that ferrets out corruption and investigates issues untouchable to the average blogger IS an essential component for how we are made aware of the world. Bloggers can add icing to the cake of those reported stories, but are in no shape to be able to find and report them on their own. Enough said..lets read what Mayor Dave writes.
The real problem is that newsrooms are thinning out and with them the papers themselves, leaving a news void that gets filled with a mix of information and opinion, often found in blogs like this one, which can be hard for readers to sort out. Rath points out that professional journalism is a relatively recent phenomenon (if you count the last century or so as recent). And it’s true I suppose that democracy functioned ok without it. We found a way to elect Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln without a tradition of objective journalism at the time. And we found a way to elect Richard Nixon with it. Twice. But on the other hand, it was professional journalists that brought Nixon down by revealing his many transgressions. They weren’t partisans out to get him. They were just doing their jobs.
It would be best if the blogosphere was just another layer of information on top of a strong foundation of professionally reported and edited journalism delivered in print or on the web. To the extent that blogs become a primary news source, it might not mean the end of democracy, but it sure isn’t a good thing. Complete objectivity might be impossible, but those who strive for it play a valuable role in democracy.
