Who is a professional journalist There are those who argue that journalists have a sole responsibility to the public and their interests, but in truth it is very difficult for journalists to maintain that responsibility to the public with corporate business people breathing down their necks. For example, Rupert Murdoch owns Fox News, and it has been very apparent in recent years that Murdoch’s political and social agenda is what the news organization pushes. This creates a conflict between Fox and its viewers. Those who do not subscribe to Fox’s viewpoints will change the channel. However, Fox’s ratings have been good enough in recent years, so the corporation probably doesn’t see a need to change their ways.
In my opinion, it is near impossible for journalists to truly do their public duty because of news corporations. The corporations create revenue, which is important for the survival of the news organization; but that means sacrifice of journalistic values sometimes. Objectivity gets put on the backburner and viewers are left to decide whether to watch or change the channel.
Ways to combat this are mentioned in the book, such as hiring business managers and journalists who put citizens first. Unfortunately when dealing with money, journalistic values aren’t always put first. In an ideal world, this would not be the case.
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