The Role of Journalism in Democracy

Journalism has often been referred to as the fourth branch of government. This common conception of the role of journalism in democracy has shaped the way in which we see journalism as a whole and, simultaneously, it's place in politics.

However, journalism's role in democracy goes much deeper than the obvious relationship of politics and journalism. Journalism has largely helped accommodate and perpetuate our obsession with celebrities; similarly, the shift towards broadcast, social media and blog sources for news has made prominent journalists into celebrities themselves. For instance, most every semi-informed American adult knows of Anderson Cooper from CNN. Satirical news anchors are becoming widely popular today as well, aka Jon Stewart, Steve Colbert and the satirical news commentators on SNL.

As a democracy, we expect journalism to provide public forums for public criticism (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 166). America was founded on freedom of speech thus, the founding fathers included freedom of speech in the very first amendment of the United States Constitution. The problem with freedom of speech is it means false statements can be (and are) perpetuated as demonstrated in the book example with innocent bystander Cody Shearer said involvement in muting Bill Clinton scandals. This is why public forum be be available. In addition, news journalists should also check sources and take responsibility for what they say or print.

Kovach, Bill, and Tom Rosenstiel. "Journalism as a Public Forum." The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect. New York: Crown, 2001. Print.