COMMON THREADS
One of the Common Threads discussed in Chapter 1 is the role that media play in a democracy. Today, one of the major concerns is the proliferation of news sources. How well is our society being served by this trend—
Historians, media critics, citizens, and even many politicians argue that a strong democracy is only possible with a strong, healthy, skeptical press. In the old days, a few legacy or traditional media—
In today’s online and 24/7 cable world, though, the legacy media have ceded some of their power and many of their fact-
The case before us then goes something like this: In the old days, the major news media provided us with reports and narratives to share, discuss, and argue about. But in today’s explosion of news and information, that common ground has eroded or is shifting. Instead, today we often rely only on those media sources that match our comfort level, cultural values, or political affiliations; increasingly these are blog sites, radio talk shows, or cable channels. Sometimes these opinion sites and channels are not supported with the careful fact-
So in today’s media environment, how severely have technological and cultural transformations undermined the common-
KEY TERMS
The definitions for the terms listed below can be found in the glossary at the end of the book. The page numbers listed with the terms indicate where the term is highlighted in the chapter.
news, 480
newsworthiness, 480
ethnocentrism, 482
responsible capitalism, 482
small-town pastoralism, 483
individualism, 483
conflict of interest, 488
herd journalism, 492
sound bite, 497
public journalism, 500
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Modern Journalism in the Information Age
Ethics and the News Media
Reporting Rituals and the Legacy of Print Journalism
Journalism in the Age of TV and the Internet
Alternative Models: Public Journalism and “Fake” News
Democracy and Reimagining Journalism’s Role
QUESTIONING THE MEDIA
LAUNCHPAD FOR MEDIA & CULTURE