Successful Journalism

I thought the reading for this week was very interesting. In our book "The Elements of Journalism" we read the chapter entitled "Who Journalist Work For" and learned about the different ways print newspaper companies have gone about attempting success in a society turning towards technology. 

The main concept that this chapter focused on was this: Journalism’s first loyalty is to citizens.

What was so interesting for me was getting to see a newspaper from the business side. In my time working with newspapers, I’ve always found myself on the other side of this “wall” as the authors termed it. For a while in journalisms history, people tried to separate business from reporting. They wanted reporters to tell the truth, and the business-men to simply sell the paper for what it was worth. Some people believed that by mixing the two, corruption would find its way into the business as journalism would become more focused on selling and pleasing the readers then it would with finding the facts and telling the truth. But in most circumstances, this method proved not to be very successful.

What WAS successful was the continued belief that quality journalism is the cornerstone of the enterprise. Even in times of economic downturns, companies who have held their ground in this belief have come out standing strongest. When both sides of the corporation are committed to the professions value first (writers and business-men), newspapers thrive.

In my opinion, it is truly amazing to see an establishment where holding fast to the moralistic values are what increase profit and continue success. Yet one more great reason to be a journalism major, don’t you think?