Читать книгу News Media Innovation Reconsidered - Группа авторов - Страница 35

If journalists join the protesters, this engagement would erode media credibility and contribute to an already partisan-soaked media sphere. Yet a journalism of just the (alleged) facts, studiously balanced, is too passive and ripe for manipulation. In a partisan public sphere, what is a fact is up for debate. Democratically engaged journalism lays between partisan advocacy and mincing neutrality. It is not a neutral spectator or a channel of information that merely repeats people’s alleged facts or racist views. When important social and democratic issues are raised, democratically engaged journalism critically evaluates sources and claims, and operates with a clear notion of the goal of democratic media.

Journalism cannot avoid involvement in the political sphere. One reason is this: as the politics of a country goes, so goes the flourishing of its citizens. If a nation becomes a tyranny, the citizens suffer. So, journalists have a duty to critique and evaluate what happens in the political sphere. Another reason is this: As democracy goes, so goes journalism. Where democracy weakens, democratic protections of freedom of speech and publication weaken. Journalists have a vested interest in maintaining a free and democratic nation.