Journalism: Power without responsibility

February 10th

an informed critique of what passes for 'journalism' today. the indian english language media are especially guilty of the harlot syndrome the author refers to below. people like NDTV, the indian express and the hindu are especially guilty of this.

let me pre-empt any possible lumping of yours truly in this harlotry by pointing out that a) i dont have much power, b) i am pretty responsible -- my critics contend that i am responsible for all sorts of things :-)

thanks to dr. kalyan

The New Criterion, Feb. 2005

Journalism: Power without responsibility

by Kenneth Minogue

Stanley Baldwin's bitter jibe that journalists enjoy "the privilege of
the harlot down the ages—power without responsibility"—still
resonates. One reason is certainly because we recognize that—alas!—we
cannot live without journalism. We might sometimes imagine that it is
merely the stuff we read in the newspapers every day, but actually
journalism is a mode in which we think. It indelibly marks our first
response to everything. It dominates television and surrounds us in
the vast publishing industry of popularization. The scholar and the
professional may escape it as they specialize, but the moment they
step outside what they really know about, they enter the flow of
popularized understanding like the rest of us.

....