Throughout the history of journalism in America, loyalty has proven to be a complex aspect in journalists' daily affairs. Shareholders, citizens, corporations, the government, managers and editors all vie for journalists' loyalty. Journalists are left with a moral dilemma that goes way back.
1971: The federal government obtained a court order to stop The New York Times' from further publishing any articles of what would be known as The Pentagon Papers. Ultimately, The New York Times won a landmark case that gave them freedom from prior restraint. (See: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/pentagon_papers/index.html)
(Groundbreaking journalist of The Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsburg)
This is a perfect example of a contemporary dilemma for journalists. With a government at war, forcefully trying to stop their work, these journalists at The New York Times actively put citizens as their first loyalty. In doing so The New York Times displayed some of "the five characteristics that news companies that have not been defeated share" (The Elements of Journalism): The owner was committed to putting citizens first and letting journalists have the final say over the news.
I think it is very interesting that the news companies that have not gone under, are the ones that give journalists true power and in turn, put citizens first.
Much has changed in the world of journalism since the 70s. In class we learned that one-third of journalists' time is devoted to business matters. I was not surprised nor dismayed by this. I think journalists need to play apart in the much needed reworking of their business matters and model. However, one of the student presenters brought up an intriguing thought - "Who you're working for largely dictates how you skew your story", and really how you approach your job. So if journalists are spending a significant amount of time in the business matters, they could forget who they are working for - citizens - and that could largely skew how they approach their work, putting the public at a loss.
Fascinating archive of Pentagon Papers, articles, ect.. Thanks for sharing Joseph. Here's a thought raised by one of the articles: What would have happened if the Pentagon Papers case was in play today in the Internet world?
ReplyDeleteIf the Pentagon Papers took place in the Internet age that would be crazy! But a good crazy :) I could see bloggers having a heyday with this. I think their conversation would drive more people to start their own blog, to get in on the conversation. I wasn't alive in 71' but I can imagine that most Americans had strong feelings about The Pentagon Papers and the Internet could have given those people a voice. Along with that, I think that Nixon would have possibly resigned even earlier with the backlash from this scandal; because people could band together easier online and public dismay would have been more visible.
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