Grave
new world? Democratic journalism enters in the global 21st century.
This
article was published in Journalism Studies, vol 1 no 1
by
Guy Berger, Aug 1999
The
role of journalism has arguably become more important with the unfolding of
the Information Age, and particularly as regards the changing democratic significance
of the mass media within this epoch. But the democratic role of journalism needs
to be distinguished from a developmental role. It should also be disentangled
from the role of media qua institution. Conceptualising what a democratic role
entails is clarified by identifying four distinct species of democratic journalism.
While these remain relevant, their context is dramatically different to what
it has been, and it is also very different in both First and Third World countries.