Journalism in the Public Interest

Over the weekend I attended Common Cause Mass’s annual brunch at the Charles hotel in Cambridge.  This year’s theme was journalism in the public interest.  What was clear from the brunch was that in an era where most people get their news online instead of subscribing to newspapers, journalism has become a much less lucrative profession.  As a consequence, many small papers are going under, and even the most successful papers continue to dramatically reduce the sizes of their staffs to make up for lost revenues.  As a number of the brunch’s honorees pointed out, this trend is not only a shame for the hardworking journalists but it’s also a significant threat to the efficacy of our government. 

The maintenance of a free press is the single most important safeguard against abuses of power in our democracy.  Without a free press, those who govern would be able to keep the inner workings of our country secret from the people who are supposed to be sovereign.  Our government would then become a government of by, and for the bureaucrats instead of the people.  Perhaps that’s why the framers of the Constitution put the guarantee of a free press in the First Amendment, before the right to bear arms, due process of law, and even the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. 

Think of the things that our elected officials would try to get away with if they thought nobody was watching, or reporting; mishandling public funds, trading votes for campaign contributions, packing courts, and even launching misguided wars, the list goes on and on.  As my father always said, never say or do anything that you wouldn’t be comfortable seeing on the front page of the New York Times.  Public officials like Anthony Weiner learned that the hard way, as did the Tom DeLays, Rod Blagojevichs, and Scooter Libbys of the world. 

Contrary to what Sarah Palin may say (shocking, I know), the ‘gotcha’ media serves a public purpose.  The media helps keep public officials governing in a way they’d be happy to see on the front page of the New York Times.  The potential for getting caught and the fear of public humiliation keeps in line those who we entrust with the direction of our country, and when they do betray our trust the free press can call them out on it.