Plenary Roundtable I: American Journalism’s Relationship to Democracy
Immediately following the Knight Commission report, participants will engage in a dialogue to (a) define American journalism (which for a working definition, is the gathering and sharing of information of import to the society), (b) refine their understanding of the functions of journalism, distinguishing the functions from the traditional instruments over which we have come to expect journalism to be delivered, and (c) try to agree on the importance of the role that journalism plays in American democracy.
One of the great fears is that enterprise journalism, where reporters take the initiative to uncover facts and there is fact-checking in the editing process, will be one of the major casualties of the reduced revenues for newspapers and broadcast networks. Will cutbacks in bureaus lead to a diminishment in the watchdog function of journalism? Who will hold governments, businesses and other powers accountable?
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