The Relationship Between Journalists and the Public

Journalists stand in a paternalistic relationship to readers: They guide them rather than engage them in conversation. They decide on the legitimate and valuable topics for the agenda based on the estimation of the public’s need to know, but don’t see the necessity for listening to the public. (Page 18) Wahl-Jorgensen

It is really important that there is a two-way relationship between journalists and their readers.  By being able to respond to journalists, readers are empowered to have an active role in their education process.  If people are merely force-fed information, they may become unable to recognize good and relevant stories for themselves.  It is also important for readers to be able to voice their opinions toward journalistic work because it will motivate writers to uphold a high level of effort with their research and stories.  With a higher level of integrity and substance, journalistic pieces can better benefit everyone involved.  The western world prides itself on being progressive and democratic, and allowing the average public to participate and share a voice in journalism is a way of valuing this democratic ideal.

Making news became commercially viable through the selling of audiences to advertisers, instead of newspapers to partisan audiences…The new centrality of advertising income also meant that owners and editors were compelled to abandon controversial, partisan material from their reports, and instead aimed to please as many advertisers and consumers as they possibly could by printing ostensibly “neutral” content and proclaiming their political independence.(Page 38) Wahl-Jorgensen

When viewing the relationship between news and advertising, it is hard to strike a fair balance between the two.  Ideally, journalists would be able to write about ideas that they truly believe in, never compromising their beliefs for the sake of making money.  It is tricky, however, seeing how revenue is the only way that newspapers can get by and continue to have the resources to produce more news. Not to mention we live in a world where making a profit is one of the biggest motivators behind any work we do. 

On the other hand, I think it may be good in a way that newspapers are objective in presenting the news.  Readers should not be forced to think a certain way about a matter, and by reading just about the facts of an event, people can hopefully draw their own conclusions and form their own meaning.  There are enough private magazines and other sources of information out there, that if people want to read a particular viewpoint, they can find it.  Likewise, if a journalist is very opinionated and wants to write about a certain topic or from a certain political perspective, I have no doubt that they can find a place to write, along with people willing to read what they have to say.