Journalism - To Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortable

 "You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you."

Sound familiar?

Journalism gets a tough rap from many people in main stream society.  Heated discussions about how well (or how terribly) journalism is fulfilling its roles frequently occur on talk shows, on the Internet, in newspapers, and in conversation.  Many complain that journalism is too negative, journalists are too dishonest, and media is too unreliable.

I disagree.

The problem is people do not understand what journalism is. It is not meant solely to broadcast the negative in the world.  They have a false notion of journalism based on a stereotype that a few "bad journalists" created for everyone many years ago.  


So, what is journalism? 

I am not satisfied with Wikipedia's definition of journalism (found here) that says journalism is "the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues, and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion."  This definition may be technically correct, but journalism goes much deeper than this. To me journalism is a source of empowerment; a way to join community and democracy. 

I like the description of journalism found in the textbook "Converging Media" by John Pavlik and Shawn McIntosh.  It says: "Journalisms purpose, according to some journalists, is to 'comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.'"  Based on this definition, journalism's role is noble rather than destructive.  The book also says the role and responsibility of journalism is

• as government watchdog
• as advocate of the common citizen
• as panderer to baser tastes among the public
• as big business
• as influencer of public opinion

Perhaps my favorite definition of journalism comes from "The Elements of Journalism" by Bill Kovach and Tim Rosenstiel.  They say: "The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing."  It provides a sense of unity in the community and in the country.  Journalism identifies a community's goals, heroes and villains.  Without journalism there would be no connection between citizens and no accountability for the government. 

"The Elements of Journalism" provides a few other definitions that I feel are worth sharing.

• The central purpose of journalism is to tell the truth so that people will have the information that they need to be sovereign.
• The goal is to serve the general welfare by informing the people.
• To give voices to people who need the the voice. . . people who are powerless

It is obvious that journalism is defined in many ways -- from a "watchdog," to a "voice of the people" -- but the ultimate goal seems to be the same:  journalism is the voice of the people and provides citizens with information that allows them to form their own opinions, and this information allows people to be free and self-governing.  So journalism is not something to be feared or mocked, but a noble cause to bring freedom and unity to a community.

What do you think?  What is journalism to you?