Journalists, ironically,
don’t tend to get a good press – not according to various
polls which rate public trust in various institutions and professions and which
generally find journalism
in the bottom of the league in such tables.
And Trump hasn’t helped with
his constant refrain of “fake media!”
But, until recently, journalism
(and the media generally) was recognised as such a crucial part of our system
that it was known as the “fourth
estate”….. But no more apparently….One
recent article indeed referred to the “myth of
the fourth estate”
This
book chapter gives a good overview of the topic.
Over the years I’ve apparently
devoted almost 20 posts to the subject – with more than half in the past 2
years (see below for a full list). I
know this because my very recent
post on public services accused journalists of dereliction of duty and I used
my “search” button to check out what I have been saying about them over the
past decade, In fact it’s remarkably
measured – if not complimentary!
I recognise, for example, that the best writing generally has often come
from journalists of the
calibre of George Orwell, Arthur Koestler, Joseph Roth and Walter Benjamin - well
before the “new journalism” of the 1970s…….and writers such as Joan
Didion and Svetlana
Alexievich
Clearly there are journalists
…and journalists…..The hierarchy probably starts with “writers” – with specialist
“correspondents” having a certain prestige status - and the “run of the mill”
sort traditionally known as….”hacks” (presumably from their habit of “hacking”
away at the typewriter and with cigarette smoke enveloping them!!). I wonder,
however, whether generalist television journalists actually warrant the title
of journalist since they use images rather than words???
And people have switched
from newspapers to television and the social media. The internet has decimated
newspaper advertising and journalists’ jobs – to say nothing of killing
investigative budgeting…….
Two other trends have been
noticeable –
- first a
growing number of people are turned off by the grimness of the news coming from
their sets and want
something more positive. A couple of years ago, for example, The Guardian started
a series called The Upside with “good news” stories. But I confess my heart
drops a bit when I spot such an item and I rarely click it!
- And an increasing
number of writers are turning to scientific or curious topics and producing
fascinating books eg on things such as salt, silence, walking ….even history
of economic ideas
Historian Timothy Garton Ash
recently produced a large and worthy book exploring such themes (which, another
mea culpa, I have not been able to persevere with). It’s called “Free
Speech – 10 principles for a connected
world” and attracted a long
review here
We need also to be careful
to distinguish journalists as individuals from the corporate structures which employ them.
Most of what might be called
the ”sins of commission” (titillation, partiality, bias and downright
criminal behaviour) are the results of owners’ and editors’ judgements
which reflect their political and financial interests.
Journalists tend to more
guilty of “sins of omission” (what they can’t be bothered writing about) and “sins
of laziness” (living on press releases)
More specifically my posts
have expressed the following concerns
·
Although
coverage of what is too easily labelled “corruption” and the blunders of
government is extensive, it is too often focused on titillating details -
and fails to explore the underlying forces at work eg public spending cuts,
ideology, government fashions…
·
articles
recognising and exploring the possible effects of such coverage on public
cynicism and fatalism are very rare. This raises wider issues about
journalistic ethics..
·
hundreds
of thousands of academics and think-tankers (and a few consultants) have been
devoting their energies to over the past 40 years to mapping the progress of
reforming the public services. But only 2 of tens of thousands of books on
the subject have been written by journalists
The archive on journalism
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