Introduction: Public Journalism Values in an Age of Media Fragmentation

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2010

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here are the chapter's first two paragraphs:

Modern communication is defined by its fragmented nature. Blogs, tweets, Facebook postings, YouTube videos and literally billions of Web pages cover the media landscape. Content created and distributed by "the people formerly known as the audience" (to use Jay Rosen's particularly apt term) dwarfs information available from the one-time giants of mass communication such as daily newspapers, weekly magazines and network television. A.J. Liebling's sardonic quip that "freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" has been turned on its head as anyone with an Internet connection and some easy-to-use software can publish to the world.

But where does journalism fir in a landscape where people can - and frequently do - publish anything, all the way down to Twitter reports on the contents of their breakfast? What does such an environment mean for journalism's most important functions of supporting democracy and improving public life?

Comments

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Copyright © 2010 From Public Journalism 2.0: The Promise and Reality of a Citizen-Engaged Press by Jack Rosenberry and Burton St. John III. Reproduced by permission of Taylor and Francis Group, LLC, a division of Informa plc.

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