A WRITER AT the Daily Californian, the student paper at the University of California, Berkeley, says that the problems currently facing journalism are the responsibility of journalists.
"It’s our fault," he writes. "Our job was to report the news, and we did that. But we got complacent, and we stopped evolving, and soon the concept of a news article became far removed from what you, as a person, valued."
He argues that journalists have focused on drawing eyes to their outlets by running stories about puppies and celebrities, often at the cost of the "the important part of journalism."
He writes:
Journalism isn’t a business, and a news article isn’t a product. Sure, advertising is a business, and it has been so intertwined with newspapers over the last century that it’s hard to think of journalism without advertising. But journalism isn’t advertising.
Journalism also isn’t about putting out a newspaper every day or every week or every second, if that were possible. That’s just a means to an end.
What is that end? Transparency and accountability: the free-flow of information required to keep democracy alive. Journalism is about informing people so individuals can make active, smart decisions about the world they live in and improve society as a whole.
The commenters either cheer on the writer, or say that he is idealistic and naive.
What do you think?
Is it enough these days to go out there and do important, relevant journalism? Or do we need to be aware of what will attract an audience?
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