Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Core of Journalism

"The role of the news media, the special status of journalism, isn't simply about providing information. All sorts of institutions provide information. The special status of journalism hinges on their ability to relentlessly, systematically, from a position of independence, hold concentrations of power accountable. That's the core of journalism. That's the core of a news media system in a democracy."

--Bob Jensen, professor of journalism, University of Texas (from this informal YouTube video, made by a student)

1 comment:

Mike Keliher said...

Great quote. Especially when I consider it in this context (from a recent article I read from Poynter):

"What's going away, from the pipeline model [of linear publishing], isn't the importance of news, or the importance of dedicated professionals. What's going away is the linearity of the process, and the passivity of the audience. What's going away is a world where the news was only made by professionals, and consumed by amateurs who couldn't do much to produce news on their own, or to distribute it, or to act on it en masse.

We are living through a shock of inclusion, where the former audience is becoming increasingly intertwined with all aspects of news, as sources who can go public on their own, as groups that can both create and comb through data in ways the professionals can't, as disseminators and syndicators and users of the news."

http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=192935