Posted by BEN BEAUMONT – The Huffington Post has an item on Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus’ article in Frank, the Clinton School’s new magazine about public service. The article, entitled “The Power of the Pen: A Call for Journalistic Courage,” is a plea for more, not less, activism in American newsrooms. In it, Pincus argues that good journalism should affect public policy and government decisions, rather than shy away from issue advocacy. The article first got traction on the BTC news blog, a website for liberal political commentary.
Frank is currently only available in print, but since this story is generating some discussion, we thought we’d offer an exerpt. If you’d like to get a copy of the magazine, send your address to publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu. A Frank website is in the works. In the meantime, here is some of what Pincus writes in his call for journalistic courage:
In 1959, Douglas Cater, then Washington editor for Reporter magazine, wrote a book titled “The Fourth Branch of Government.” In it, Cater argued that the press and more importantly television, which was coming into its own as the primary source of news, is a powerful participant in the governmental process.
This was not a new idea. Edmund Burke in the 18th centurydescribed three estates in the British Parliament, and then added: “But in the Reporters’ Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important than they all. ‘Whoever can speak, speaking now to the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government with inalienable weight in law-making, in all acts of authority.’ ”
Cater’s view almost 50 years ago—and one I hold today—was that the power of the press can be used to both good and bad effect, depending on your point of view. Cater wanted journalists and their editors and managers to realize their actions and decisions directly affected government, whether they liked it or not.
“The reporter is the recorder of government but is also a participant,” Cater said. “He (or she these days) operates in a system in which power is divided. He (she) as much as anyone, and more than a great many, helps to shape the course of government.”
Electronic and print media today probably have more potential influence over public opinion than they had 50 years ago. Yet owners, editors and reporters today rarely push issues they believe government should take up. If a vote were taken among editors of the major daily newspapers, the vice presidents of network news divisions, television and radio anchors, and I hate to say, probably even most younger print and electronic reporters, the result would be that few to none want or believe they have the right to shape government actions. They don’t want to play activist roles in government—either personally or professionally—unless, of course, it could affect the bottom line.
I believe this failure is a threat to our democracy and a poor example for the rest of the world, where we supposedly are spreading the need for a free press. This is my romantic and unfashionable view of journalism, but it is the one that caused many of us to take up the profession in the first place.
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