Journalism's Uncertain Future

Journalism has long played an integral role in gaining and, subsequently, maintaining democracy. It was not until all factors of true journalism were realized that democracy could exist. Unfortunately, the spirit of the times before democracy, times that we now attribute to be tumultuous and dark, is now reviving in our present global environment. Whether democracy and journalism are being quashed or the two are in reality quashing themselves is irrelevant. The simple notion that such a terrible collapse could be in progress is abhorrent enough to merit apprehension and trepidation. There are various challenges that presently face journalism, menacing the practice's once hallowed status. Journalism as a whole must overcome these obstacles, for if journalism is to cease, democracy shall soon follow.

One can no longer read the news and escape coverage of journalists being investigated and even arrested. However, no longer do we hear tales of foreign dictators perpetrating these deeds. Now it is society's own security agencies which prey upon journalists in the name of "democracy." As if these external forces were not enough of a hindrance, the journalism enterprise is showing several self-destructive tendencies, not the least of which is corporate control by media conglomerates, such as CanWest, and individual "press barons" like Rupert Murdoch. The very definition of journalism is even under attack, resulting from biased blogs posing as real journalism and thereby destoying all journalistic credibility.

This last point touches on what is perhaps the crux of the problem. The credibility of journalists everwhere has suffered various blows in recent years. Whether it is Jayson Blair, the New York Times reporter caught falsifying stories, journalists taking bribes to write anti-Castro propaganda or, in less recent years, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, a French journalist, completely fabricating interviews with the aforementioned Cuban president, the journalism field has suffered repeated embarassments