Message from the Editor

This conference takes a serious and in-depth look at a fundamental change in America that seems to be occurring, for the most part, unnoticed. Journalism, a critical component of democracy is undergoing a rapid decline. The conference leader, James Goldsborough, launches the conference by saying "We've been known as the "fourth estate" for as long as anyone can remember, more important to the nation, said Jefferson, than government itself".

In today’s America journalism is beset by numerous problems — competition from the internet and cable TV, greed on the part of owners and shareholders who are willing to pander to the public desire for entertainment, and an eroding advertising base. This has led to a decline in the morale of journalists who are often required to produce inferior quality work in order to help "increase profits".

As with all of the issues taken up by the ILF the thesis is simple but the details are immensely complex. The conference examines many of the details, probing to discover the critical role and responsibility of journalism, the corrupting influence of corporations, and the rapid changes in commerce and technology that are sweeping through American culture today.

Does journalism (and by extension, the media) have any social responsibility? Is it reasonable to expect that the corporations that own newspapers should be socially responsible? Is it necessarily a bad thing that journalism is changing from a profession to a commodity?

Is the news on this front all bleak or are many of these changes simply new opportunities for some people. As one ILF fellow puts it "I would argue that quite a bit of quality original content is coming from web-based vehicles such as certain blogs, news services (such as Women's e-News) and on-line magazines (Salon, Slate etc.).

But the business of journalism is different from others, being more of a mission than a business. The business of journalism is not simply about opinion. It requires reporters who are "skeptical, willing and able look under rocks and behind closed doors to get at the truth, to defend the public interest at all costs". The costs of investigative journalism are high, but are they so high that newspapers are actually "losing money"? Or is it simply that greed on the part of owners demands more profits and one way to generate them is to cut back on quality journalism in favor of popular (or controversial) opinion?

Has the media (TV in particular), to some extent fallen victim to itself? The news anchors themselves have become celebrities, some of them being more recognizable than the news makers. What effect does this have on providers and viewers? What message does it communicate?

Some of the fellows call for raising the standards of education to combat the problem. claiming that a better educated public will demand to be better informed. But is this necessarily true?

Like so many of today’s issues the tangled weave of so many interactive parts makes the examination of the "Decline of Journalism" another fascinating and thought provoking conference.

Kip Winsett
Editor

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