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March 12, 2009
A question. Journalists in the mainstream media conventionally understand themselves to be watchdogs over the political establishment, and see themselves as defending democracy. They stand for truth and enlightenment in the face of the lies, coverups and mass deceptions that further the vested interests of political power. They stand for, and represent, adversarial journalism and are responsible for the clashes of ideas in the agora or public sphere.
Is the political reality one in which these journalists are publicists for political power? And further, does the drip feed relationship (access journalism) mean that journalists are actually subservient to political power, not watchdogs over it? They are loyal spokespeople for political power because they are merged into the processes of political power and become part of the process of media management. Is access journalism the dominant form of journalism in Australia?
Glenn Greenward makes the following observations about access journalism:
what fuels "access journalism" [is] the willingness of politicians to speak only to deferential reporters, who stay deferential in order to ensure that those politicians continue to speak with them, a process that perpetuates itself ad infnitum. That has created a virtually complete -- and quite destructive -- accountability-free zone where politicians and pundits alike can simply avoid any form of adversarial questioning or challenges to their claims
It's the ability of politicians, journalists and pundits to avoid meaningful challenges to their views that, more than any other factor, degrades our political discourse. So we have a self-imposed cocooning process that is now pervasive and has become the norm. The gatekeeping that takes place in the media functions to protect both access journalism and to avoid any questioning of the structure of the political/media system.
Update
Access journalism---- in the form of the Canberra Press Gallery--- works in terms of the corporate model of journalism. The changes the newspapers are currently going through ( declining revenue, cost cutting, staff laayoffs etc) suggest that newspapers are failing as businesses and they are becoming a different industry.
By "different industry " is meant that newspapers will struggle to publish under something like the current corporate model (eg., Fairfax) but with somehow different content, eg., infotainment or lifestyle fluff. Escapes! Styles!----junk no one wants to pay for.
This kind of newspaper isn't going to be interested, or able to, produce the news that’s vital to a democracy----giving citizens the information they need to be free and self-governing. Though the newspapers (as old media) will still have great power, the internet has taught the public to expect to talk back to the mainstream media and to become content providers. That also changes the dynamics in the media---- the old model of daily print journalism is dying, and we are seeing the beginning of the end. The end of something means the birth of something new-- ie., the media as a platform for user generated content rather than a portal?
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Greenward says that reporters and columnists should not only blog, but also regularly engage with criticism from others and interact extensively with their commenters.
Does that happen in Australia?