Community journalism: Good intentions, questionable practice

Addressing HIV/AIDS: Indian Journalists’ Opinion about News Coverage, Journalist Roles, and Strategic Communication Efforts

“…These press philosophies that suggest journalist engagement, through word or deed, in addressing community social issues have met with considerable criticism from scholars and practitioners (Barney, 1996;Merrill, 1996;Sussman, 1981). At the same time, even American journalists who are generally wedded to concepts of objectivity, balance, and distance, report playing responsible, participatory, mobilizing and civic roles (Gade et al, 1998;Johnstone, Slawski, and Bowman, 1976;Weaver, 1998;Weaver and Wilhoit, 1996;Weaver, et al, 2007).…”

Public Journalism Challenges to Curriculum and Instruction

“…While the full scope of those criticisms cannot be addressed in this article (Black, 1997;Glasser, 1999a;Rosen, 1999a), some of the most widely expressed criticisms should be mentioned. First, several scholars have argued that public journalism is a communitarian movement which requires journalists to concede editorial autonomy to citizens in pursuit of community consensus (Barney, 1996(Barney, , 1997Corrigan, 1999;Merrill, 1997;Merrill, Gade, & Blevens, 2000;Parisi, 1997). Second, several scholars have argued that public journalism fails to contend with the increasing commercialization of news media and its profound impact on how journalism is practiced (Frank, 1998;Glasser & Craft, 1998;Hackett & Zhao, 1996Hardt, 1997Hardt, , 1999Martin, 2000;McChesney, 1999;Schudson, 1998Schudson, , 1999.…”

Making public life work : can public journalism be used as a tool to further development in South Africa ?

“…One of the reasons that supporters cited for a need for public journalism was the decline in readership and newspaper sales. While public journalists argued that people were turning away from newspapers and news in general because they no longer connected with the communities they served, Barney (1996) argued that there were several other factors that could have contributed to the perceived social decline. Barney (1996) notes that only 45 per cent of Americans said they read a newspaper daily in March 1995, compared to 71 per cent in 1965.…”

“…While public journalists argued that people were turning away from newspapers and news in general because they no longer connected with the communities they served, Barney (1996) argued that there were several other factors that could have contributed to the perceived social decline. Barney (1996) notes that only 45 per cent of Americans said they read a newspaper daily in March 1995, compared to 71 per cent in 1965. In addition, Barney (1996) notes that "households that watch news from any source (network, magazines, local) dropped from 74 per cent in 1994 to 64 per cent in 1995 and to 58 per cent in 1996 (Feinsilber, 1996).…”

“…Barney (1996) notes that only 45 per cent of Americans said they read a newspaper daily in March 1995, compared to 71 per cent in 1965. In addition, Barney (1996) notes that "households that watch news from any source (network, magazines, local) dropped from 74 per cent in 1994 to 64 per cent in 1995 and to 58 per cent in 1996 (Feinsilber, 1996).…”