Public journalism and the search for democratic ideals

Abstract

Public journalism is apparently gaining influence in newsrooms throughout the US. It seems to be a genuinely innovative effort to move journalists away from thinking about the claims of separation that have long defined the practice of journalism toward thinking about the claims of connection that might redefine and reinvigorate the role of the press in a democratic society. Public journalism presumes a democracy in decay and posits a role for the press based on what journalism can do to enrich a public discourse that has long been in decline. In this article, the authors question the role the press might play in a democratic society as purported by public journalism and its implied view of democracy. Following a review of what public journalism claims for itself, the authors identify and discuss the areas where its conception of the press and the press's commitment to self-governance appear to be most problematic. The question becomes not so much one of whether public journalism offers something desirable for the journalist as one of what prospects are there for a private press to meet a public purpose.

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