Journalism, Journalistic Intelligencia, the Forth Power

[pieter]

Folks,

For me personally the role of Journalists, critical minds, critical thinkers, artists, thinkers, the Forth Power next to the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers is very important. I/we (my colleagues and I) have to control power, monitor power and show all sides of the democracy and actual news, also if it is ugly, not nice, dark and disturbing. We have a rol in showing local, regional, national and international facts and developments. My personal role is limited, because I have zero to no budget, little power and influence, but European, American, Asian and African and Oceanian journalists whom work for international networks, with budgets and means of transportation have the task and duty to inform the public and control and monitor their own administrations, societies, economies, environments and developmemts.

Encyclopaedia Britannica states that Journnalism is: "The collection, preparation, and distribution of news and related commentary and feature materials through such print and electronic media as newspapers, magazines, books, blogs, webcasts, podcasts, social networking and social media sites, and e-mail as well as through radio, motion pictures, and television. The word journalism was originally applied to the reportage of current events in printed form, specifically newspapers, but with the advent of radio, television, and the Internet in the 20th century the use of the term broadened to include all printed and electronic communication dealing with current affairs."



The profession according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica

Journalism in the 20th century was marked by a growing sense of professionalism. There were four important factors in this trend: (1) the increasing organization of working journalists, (2) specialized education for journalism, (3) a growing literature dealing with the history, problems, and techniques of mass communication, and (4) an increasing sense of social responsibility on the part of journalists.

An organization of journalists began as early as 1883, with the foundation of England’s chartered Institute of Journalists. Like the American Newspaper Guild, organized in 1933, and the Fédération Nationale de la Presse Française, the institute functioned as both a trade union and a professional organization.

Before the latter part of the 19th century, most journalists learned their craft as apprentices, beginning as copyboys or cub reporters. The first university course in journalism was given at the University of Missouri (Columbia) in 1879–84. In 1912 Columbia University in New York City established the first graduate program in journalism, endowed by a grant from the New York City editor and publisher Joseph Pulitzer. It was recognized that the growing complexity of news reporting and newspaper operation required a great deal of specialized training. Editors also found that in-depth reporting of special types of news, such as political affairs, business, economics, and science, often demanded reporters with education in these areas. The advent of motion pictures, radio, and television as news media called for an ever-increasing battery of new skills and techniques in gathering and presenting the news. By the 1950s, courses in journalism or communications were commonly offered in colleges.

The literature of the subject—which in 1900 was limited to two textbooks, a few collections of lectures and essays, and a small number of histories and biographies—became copious and varied by the late 20th century. It ranged from histories of journalism to texts for reporters and photographers and books of conviction and debate by journalists on journalistic capabilities, methods, and ethics.

Concern for social responsibility in journalism was largely a product of the late 19th and 20th centuries. The earliest newspapers and journals were generally violently partisan in politics and considered that the fulfillment of their social responsibility lay in proselytizing their own party’s position and denouncing that of the opposition. As the reading public grew, however, the newspapers grew in size and wealth and became increasingly independent. Newspapers began to mount their own popular and sensational “crusades” in order to increase their circulation. The culmination of this trend was the competition between two New York City papers, the World and the Journal, in the 1890s (see yellow journalism).

The sense of social responsibility made notable growth as a result of specialized education and widespread discussion of press responsibilities in books and periodicals and at the meetings of the associations. Such reports as that of the Royal Commission on the Press (1949) in Great Britain and the less extensive A Free and Responsible Press (1947) by an unofficial Commission on the Freedom of the Press in the United States did much to stimulate self-examination on the part of practicing journalists.

By the late 20th century, studies showed that journalists as a group were generally idealistic about their role in bringing the facts to the public in an impartial manner. Various societies of journalists issued statements of ethics, of which that of the American Society of Newspaper Editors is perhaps best known.

Present-day journalism according to Encyclopaedia Britannica is

Although the core of journalism has always been the news, the latter word has acquired so many secondary meanings that the term “hard news” gained currency to distinguish items of definite news value from others of marginal significance. This was largely a consequence of the advent of radio and television reporting, which brought news bulletins to the public with a speed that the press could not hope to match. To hold their audience, newspapers provided increasing quantities of interpretive material—articles on the background of the news, personality sketches, and columns of timely comment by writers skilled in presenting opinion in readable form. By the mid-1960s most newspapers, particularly evening and Sunday editions, were relying heavily on magazine techniques, except for their content of “hard news,” where the traditional rule of objectivity still applied. Newsmagazines in much of their reporting were blending news with editorial comment.

Journalism in book form has a short but vivid history. The proliferation of paperback books during the decades after World War II gave impetus to the journalistic book, exemplified by works reporting and analyzing election campaigns, political scandals, and world affairs in general, and the “new journalism” of such authors as Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, and Norman Mailer.

The 20th century saw a renewal of the strictures and limitations imposed upon the press by governments. In countries with communist governments, the press was owned by the state, and journalists and editors were government employees. Under such a system, the prime function of the press to report the news was combined with the duty to uphold and support the national ideology and the declared goals of the state. This led to a situation in which the positive achievements of communist states were stressed by the media, while their failings were underreported or ignored. This rigorous censorship pervaded journalism in communist countries.

In noncommunist developing countries, the press enjoyed varying degrees of freedom, ranging from the discreet and occasional use of self-censorship on matters embarrassing to the home government to a strict and omnipresent censorship akin to that of communist countries. The press enjoyed the maximum amount of freedom in most English-speaking countries and in the countries of western Europe.

Whereas traditional journalism originated during a time when information was scarce and thus highly in demand, 21st-century journalism faced an information-saturated market in which news had been, to some degree, devalued by its overabundance. Advances such as satellite and digital technology and the Internet made information more plentiful and accessible and thereby stiffened journalistic competition. To meet increasing consumer demand for up-to-the-minute and highly detailed reporting, media outlets developed alternative channels of dissemination, such as online distribution, electronic mailings, and direct interaction with the public via forums, blogs, user-generated content, and social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

In the second decade of the 21st century, social media platforms in particular facilitated the spread of politically oriented “fake news,” a kind of disinformation produced by for-profit Web sites posing as legitimate news organizations and designed to attract (and mislead) certain readers by exploiting entrenched partisan biases. During the campaign for the U.S. presidential election of 2016 and after his election as president in that year, Donald J. Trump regularly used the term “fake news” to disparage news reports, including by established and reputable media organizations, that contained negative information about him.

[pieter]

Research Journalism



Journalistic research strives for completeness, balance, and accuracy with the understanding that each individual report is, by definition, incomplete and weighted toward a particular view by the accessibility of sources and the need to get information out in time. This article establishes ideals of American journalistic research, points out conceptual confusions and social pressures that interfere with journalists performing at an “ideal”; level, and describes norms in proposing, conducting, and reporting journalistic research. The lack of external accountability creates special problems for the credibility of journalistic research.



Investigative, Political and Global journalism

Investigative journalism is an in-depth reporting that uncovers social problems. Political journalism is the coverage of all aspects of politics and political science. Global journalism is the journalism that encompasses a global outlook focusing on intercontinental issues.

Political journalism



Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power.

Political journalism aims to provide voters with the information to formulate their own opinion and participate in community, local or national matters that will affect them. According to Edward Morrissey in an opinion article from theweek.com, political journalism frequently includes opinion journalism, as current political events can be biased in their reporting. The information provided includes facts, its perspective is subjective and leans towards one viewpoint.

Brendan Nyhan and John M. Sides argue that "Journalists who report on politics are frequently unfamiliar with political science research or question its relevance to their work". Journalists covering politics who are unfamiliar with information that would provide context to their stories can enable the story to take a different spin on what is being reported.

Political journalism is provided through different mediums, in print, broadcast, or online reporting. Digital media use has increased and it provides instant coverage of campaigns, politics, event news, and an accessible platform for the candidate. Media outlets known for their political journalism like The New York Times and the Washington Post, have increased their use of this medium as well. Printed, online, and broadcast political humor presented as entertainment has been used to provide updates on aspects of government status, political news, campaign, and election updates. According to Geoffrey Baym, the information provided may not be considered "fake news" but the lines between entertainment and factual news may seem blurred or biased while providing political updates. This type of journalism is analyzed, interpreted, and discussed by news media pundits and editorialists. It can lack objectivity which can prevent the accuracy of the presented information. The reporting of news with a bias viewpoint can also take away the audience's ability to form their own opinion or beliefs of what has been reported. This type of reporting is subjective with a possible social or political purpose.



Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Practitioners sometimes use the terms "watchdog reporting" or "accountability reporting."

Most investigative journalism has traditionally been conducted by newspapers, wire services, and freelance journalists. With the decline in income through advertising, many traditional news services have struggled to fund investigative journalism, due to it being very time-consuming and expensive. Journalistic investigations are increasingly carried out by news organizations working together, even internationally (as in the case of the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers), or by organizations such as ProPublica, which have not operated previously as news publishers and which rely on the support of the public and benefactors to fund their work.

The growth of media conglomerates in the U.S. since the 1980s has been accompanied by massive cuts in the budgets for investigative journalism. A 2002 study concluded "that investigative journalism has all but disappeared from the nation's commercial airwaves".

Data journalism



Data journalism is the practice of finding stories in numbers, and using numbers to tell stories. Data journalists may use data to support their reporting. They may also report about uses and misuses of data. The US news organization ProPublica is known as a pioneer of data journalism.

Data journalism or data-driven journalism (DDJ) is journalism based on the filtering and analysis of large data sets for the purpose of creating or elevating a news story.

Data journalism reflects the increased role of numerical data in the production and distribution of information in the digital era. It involves a blending of journalism with other fields such as data visualization, computer science, and statistics, "an overlapping set of competencies drawn from disparate fields".

Data journalism has been widely used to unite several concepts and link them to journalism. Some see these as levels or stages leading from the simpler to the more complex uses of new technologies in the journalistic process.



Many data-driven stories begin with newly available resources such as open source software, open access publishing and open data, while others are products of public records requests or leaked materials. This approach to journalism builds on older practices, most notably on computer-assisted reporting (CAR) a label used mainly in the US for decades. Other labels for partially similar approaches are "precision journalism", based on a book by Philipp Meyer, published in 1972, where he advocated the use of techniques from social sciences in researching stories. Data-driven journalism has a wider approach. At the core the process builds on the growing availability of open data that is freely available online and analyzed with open source tools.[4] Data-driven journalism strives to reach new levels of service for the public, helping the general public or specific groups or individuals to understand patterns and make decisions based on the findings. As such, data driven journalism might help to put journalists into a role relevant for society in a new way.

Telling stories based on the data is the primary goal. The findings from data can be transformed into any form of journalistic writing. Visualizations can be used to create a clear understanding of a complex situation. Furthermore, elements of storytelling can be used to illustrate what the findings actually mean, from the perspective of someone who is affected by a development. This connection between data and story can be viewed as a "new arc" trying to span the gap between developments that are relevant, but poorly understood, to a story that is verifiable, trustworthy, relevant and easy to remember.



Citizen journalism



Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media,: 61  participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information." Similarly, Courtney C. Radsch defines citizen journalism "as an alternative and activist form of news gathering and reporting that functions outside mainstream media institutions, often as a response to shortcomings in the professional journalistic field, that uses similar journalistic practices but is driven by different objectives and ideals and relies on alternative sources of legitimacy than traditional or mainstream journalism".

Citizen journalism was made more feasible by the development of various online internet platforms. New media technology, such as social networking and media-sharing websites, in addition to the increasing prevalence of cellular telephones, have made citizen journalism more accessible to people worldwide.



Business journalism

Business journalism tracks, records, analyzes and interprets the business, economic and financial activities and changes that take place in societies.

Business journalism refers to reporting, analyzing, and distributing information relating to business and economic matters. Sometimes referred to as financial journalism, business journalism includes everything from personal finance news to the latest public interest stories concerning big businesses.



TV/Radio and online media



Broadcast journalism is the written or spoken journalism for radio or television.

Broadcast journalism is news reporting on the radio, television, and the internet. Traditionally, the term referred to reporting and distributing news stories via television and radio. However, as multimedia platforms evolve, different types of online formats now fall under the banner of broadcast journalism.



Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, and Internet) and the World Wide Web. Such media disperse pictures (static and moving), visual text and sounds.



Interactive journalism

Interactive journalism is a new type of journalism that allows consumers to directly contribute to the story. Through Web 2.0 technology, reporters can develop a conversation with the audience. The digital age has changed how people collect information. News from print newspapers, once the only source for news, have seen declines in circulation as people get news on the Internet.

Interactive Media

Interactive Media, also called interactive multimedia, any computer-delivered electronic system that allows the user to control, combine, and manipulate different types of media, such as text, sound, video, computer graphics, and animation. Interactive media integrate computer, memory storage, digital (binary) data, telephone, television, and other information technologies. Their most common applications include training programs, video games, electronic encyclopaedias, and travel guides. Interactive media shift the user’s role from observer to participant and are considered the next generation of electronic information systems.

A personal computer (PC) system with conventional magnetic-disk memory storage technically qualifies as a type of interactive media. More advanced interactive systems have been in use since the development of the computer in the mid-20th century—as flight simulators in the aerospace industry, for example. The term was popularized in the early 1990s, however, to describe PCs that incorporate high-capacity optical (laser) memory devices, such as a CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) drive, and digital sound systems. Other interactive media systems are cable television services with computer interfaces that enable viewers to interact with television programs, high-speed interactive audiovisual communications systems that rely on digital data from fibre-optic lines or digitized wireless transmissions, and virtual reality systems that create small-scale artificial sensory environments.

Interactive journalism

Interactive journalism has developed as an effort to redefine and reengage the audience. It has the potential to redefine news, allowing the consumer to determine what has news value, becoming the producer and/or editor of the news. As the role of the consumer is being redefined by the easy access allowed by the Internet, journalists are also in the process of redefining their roles. Interactive journalism redefines the role that the media industry for centuries has undertaken. As Janice Hume explains, “The history of America is written in the stories of its communities, and media have told communities’ stories almost from the start.”

However, in the 21st Century, the challenge for media outlets is that communities do not longer solely depend on news entities to tell their stories. Instead, community members have a wide range of online elements, such as blogs, websites and social media, to disseminate their stories. Therefore, media outlets have been forced to widen the definition “of mass media from ‘one-to-many’ to ‘many-to-many’ communication.” Interactive journalism is similar, but not identical, to collaborative journalism, in which rather than converse with the reporter, individual reporters without affiliation to the parent organization contribute and provide news items and reports. Joyce Y.M. Nip identifies five models of public journalism. (1) Traditional journalism, (2) public journalism, (3) interactive journalism, (4) participatory journalism and (5) citizen journalism.[7] These five models vary on the degree of public participation in the reporting process, with traditional journalism involving the least degree of participation and citizen journalism involving the most.

One of the most popular interactive journalism tools are blogs, which allow grassroot news to be developed by eyewitnesses or those with expertise or interest in a particular subject area. Bloggers often cite and link to mainstream news articles and mainstream journalists often get story ideas from blogs they monitor. The blog format allows readers to add further information or corrections.



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_journalism

Photo- and War Journalism



Photojournalism is the practice of telling true stories through images and War journalism is the covering of wars and armed conflicts. I (Pieter) think that War journalism is one of the most important, daring, risky, factual, investigative, tacictical, strategic and pragmatic forms of journalism. Often Photo- and War journalism go hand in hand. Of course Broadcast journalism (TV and Radio reports with tv crews of cameramen, editors and interviewing journalists -foreign correspondents and war correspondents-) is also part of War Journalism.

A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war zone.

War correspondents' jobs bring them to the most conflict-ridden parts of the world. Once there, they attempt to get close enough to the action to provide written accounts, photos, or film footage. Thus, this is often considered the most dangerous form of journalism.

Only some conflicts receive extensive worldwide coverage, however. Among recent wars, the Kosovo War, the Persian Gulf War and the Russo-Ukrainian war received a great deal of coverage. In contrast, the largest war in the last half of the 20th century, the Iran–Iraq War, received far less substantial coverage. This is typical for wars among less-developed countries, as audiences are less interested and the reports do little to increase sales and ratings. The lack of infrastructure makes reporting more difficult and expensive, and the conflicts are also far more dangerous for war correspondents.



Social media



The rise of social media has drastically changed the nature of journalistic reporting, giving rise to so-called citizen journalists. In a 2014 study of journalists in the United States, 40% of participants claimed they rely on social media as a source, with over 20% depending on microblogs to collect facts. From this, the conclusion can be drawn that breaking news nowadays often stems from user-generated content, including videos and pictures posted online in social media. However, though 69.2% of the surveyed journalists agreed that social media allowed them to connect to their audience, only 30% thought it had a positive influence on news credibility. In addition to this, a recent study done by Pew Research Center shows that eight-in-ten Americans are getting their news from digital devices.



Consequently, this has resulted in arguments to reconsider journalism as a process distributed among many authors, including the socially mediating public, rather than as individual products and articles written by dedicated journalists.

Because of these changes, the credibility ratings of news outlets has reached an all-time low. A 2014 study revealed that only 22% of Americans reported a "great deal" or "quite a lot of confidence" in either television news or newspapers.



Fake news



"Fake news" is also deliberately untruthful information, which can often spread quickly on social media or by means of fake news websites. News cannot be regarded as "fake", but disinformation rather.

It is often published to intentionally mislead readers to ultimately benefit a cause, organization or an individual. A glaring example was the proliferation of fake news in social media during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Conspiracy theories, hoaxes, and lies have been circulated under the guise of news reports to benefit specific candidates. One example is a fabricated report of Hillary Clinton's email which was published by a non-existent newspaper called The Denver Guardian. Many critics blamed Facebook for the spread of such material. Its news feed algorithm, in particular, was identified by Vox as the platform where the social media giant exercise billions of editorial decisions every day. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and TikTok are distributors of disinformation or "fake news". Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, has acknowledged the company's role in this problem: in a testimony before a combined Senate Judiciary and Commerce committee hearing on 20 April 2018, he said:

"It's clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy."



Readers can often evaluate credibility of news by examining the credibility of the underlying news organization.

The phrase was popularized and used by Donald Trump during his presidential campaign to discredit what he perceived as negative news coverage of his candidacy and then the presidency.

In some countries, including Turkey,] Egypt, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Somalia journalists have been threatened or arrested for allegedly spreading fake news about the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 4 March 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill introducing prison sentences of up to 15 years for those who publish "knowingly false information" about the Russian armed forces and their operations, leading to some media outlets in Russia to stop reporting on Ukraine or shutting their media outlet. As of December 2022, more than 4,000 people were prosecuted under "fake news" laws in connection with the war in Ukraine. At least 1,000 Russian journalists have fled Russia since February 2022.



Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia

[pieter]

Fourth branch of government



In politics of the United States, the fourth branch of government is an unofficial term referring to groups or institutions perceived variously as influencing or acting in the stead of the three branches of the US federal government defined in the Constitution of the United States (legislative, executive and judicial). Views as to whether the influence is due or undue or the actions are for good or ill also vary.

Such groups can include the press (as a departure from the 'Fourth Estate'), the people (in sum or as grand juries), and interest groups. The independent administrative agencies of the United States government, while technically part of any one of the three branches, may also be referred to as a ‘fourth branch’.

The press



While the term ‘fourth estate’ is used to emphasize the independence of 'the press', the fourth branch suggests that the press is not independent of the government. The concept of the news media or press as a fourth branch stems from a belief that the media's responsibility to inform the populace is essential to the healthy functioning of democracy.

Douglass Cater, in his 1959 "The Fourth Branch of Government" offered the hypothesis that the press had become "a de facto, quasiofficial fourth branch of government" and observed it was the looseness of the American political framework that allowed news media to “insert themselves as another branch of the government”. Cater was "convinced that, insofar as the press did act as a true political player (rather than an unbiased observer of politics), it corrupted itself and went astray from its primary responsibility—to convey important information and to act as a nonpartisan watchdog for the public against all trespassers on their rights."

In 1985, Walter Annenberg noted that several commentators were applying the term 'fourth branch of government' to the press to indicate that it has at least as much if not more power to direct public policy than do the other three branches, in part because of its direct contact with the public and its protection "by the First Amendment from responsibility for what they report".

The people

Justice Antonin Scalia's majority opinion in United States v. Williams, 1992 has been relied on to refer to grand juries as a fourth branch of government. In that opinion, Scalia wrote:

The grand jury is mentioned in the Bill of Rights, but not in the body of the Constitution. It has not been textually assigned, therefore, to any of the branches described in the first three Articles. It 'is a constitutional fixture in its own right'. In fact the whole theory of its function is that it belongs to no branch of the institutional government, serving as a kind of buffer or referee between the Government and the people.

Some have used this to call for common law grand juries "to expose fraud and corruption whether it is in the judicial or political realm."

Others have used the term in calls to, e.g, "empower the people" by petition or referendum processes or, similarly, for "broader and more direct participation in our governance" by eliminating the Electoral College, implementing e-voting and other measures.

Interest groups



In an article titled "The 'Fourth Branch' of Government", Alex Knott of the Center for Public Integrity asserted in 2005 that "special interests and the lobbyists they employ have reported spending, since 1998, a total of almost $13 billion to influence Congress, the White House and more than 200 federal agencies."

Administrative agencies



The administrative agencies that are funded from public money may exercise powers granted by Congress. Without appropriate controls and oversight this practice may result in a bureaucracy (in the original literal sense). Some critics have argued that a central paradox at the heart of the American political system is democracy's reliance on what the critics view as undemocratic bureaucratic institutions that characterize the administrative agencies of government.

An argument made for calling administrative agencies a "fourth branch" of government is the fact that such agencies typically exercise all three constitutionally divided powers within a single bureaucratic body: That is, agencies legislate (a power vested solely in the legislature by the Constitution) through delegated rulemaking authority; investigate, execute, and enforce such rules (via the executive power these agencies are typically organized under); and apply, interpret, and enforce compliance with such rules (a power separately vested in the judicial branch). Additionally, non-executive, or "independent" administrative agencies are often called a fourth branch of government, as they create rules with the effect of law, yet may be composed at least partially of private, non-governmental actors.

[Jaga]

Hello Pieter, yes, the list of most powerful interest groups are right, especially the first two. Some of the names I have no clue what they really are. I bet, there are some lobbies that hide behind "recording industry" for instance.

People in the US are much more active on the local level, many initiatives come from bottom up. I think that this is changing also in Europe and people are aware of their rights to govern.

[pieter]

[pieter]

[pieter]

[karl]

Pieter

It is good of you of to bring this presentation to light. For this and yourself, are a trusted icon of public trust. For if it is printed, to most folks, then it must be the truth, which not always the case. The video presentation of: "How do you research and check facts", was most interesting for this also the foundation of my work, which is information. It matters little to myself as the source, as long as it is valid and true, even if sourced from a dead man's lips, who cares as long as it is valid. On at least two occasions myself have been accused of gaining information from an untrusted source, but then through the process of cross checking as the same, myself then forwarded it to this site. For especially on American news sources, if their information is negative and conflicts with currant politics such as the present Biden administration, they are not allowed to present it. Whilst a few of the rather questionable news sites do not care, for they are financed from offshore sources.

Whilst growing up in Denmark, we often listened to the BBC and postwar American Armed forces Radio. both were very excellent news sources and good music; we enjoyed their respective mix of news and music.

In the manner of Journalist, often myself am concerned for your safety, for civilians for the most part are mindful of their journalist whilst on site interviewing. But then, there are those that do not care a wit for the safety of others but only wish to act out whatever is on their little minds, including attacking a journalist to make themselves appear manly. This is the reasoning of my concerns for your safety.

Whilst in contrast to above, the Journalist working in a war combat zone, is equipped with his/her protective gear and understanding the hazardous conditions they are cognizant of the danger involved and prepared for the unexpected.

Karl

[pieter]

Guys,

In this world of extremes, radicalism, division, black and white thinking, unifaced orientation, fanatism, ethnocenrism, egocentric tendencies, and Left- and Rightwing thinking in which only ‘The Left’ is right or only ‘The Right’ in the eyes of Leftists and Rightists.

Reason, putting things into perspective, rationalism, rational analytical thinking, realistic pragmatism and again ‘Reason’ is needed folks. And in my opinion real In investigative journalists (people who profess Research journalism), Economists, Pragmatic philosophers, writers, artists and a few honest and real Public serving Politcians with some intellect and brains 🧠 with the Public Interest in mind could be that voice of reason.

I am sorry if I offend people, but the present politicians and leaders aren’t that voice of reason due to their ego, hunger for Power, age or due to the fact that they are hijacked by party politics, big corporate money behind the stage and lobby groups. I hope that new leaders and a ‘new generation’ will enter the stage soon. And journalists should be critical and more critical than they are right now.

I think that in an ideal Media landscape something has to change in the present day Media and Press.

Pieter’s perfect media/press landscape would show a different media landscape in the West.

Pieter’s Media landscape;

1) - A general, not party or ideology affiliated independent quality press with both public and private funding. Objective and neutral news coverage, in-depth stories via Reportages, Documentries, essays, podcasts, blogs, radio and tv shows and programs. Critical towards all sides, Right, Center and Left.

And next to these partisan media;

2) Far left Marxist, Socialist, Trotskyist, Democratic Socialist and Social Democratic Press ( en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_World and Democracy Now)

3) Conservative media (Fox News, Tucker Carlson‘s private Chanal, Breitbart, Newsmax, The American Conservative (TAC), Infowars, The Weekly Standard, Reader's Digest, Commentary (magazine), The American Spectator., The New York Post and the the online-only newspaper Observer, which officially endorsed United States presidential candidate Donald Trump in the Republican Party presidential primaries)

3) Liberal Media (CNN, Young Turks, the New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, PBS [Front Line & News Hour], The Village Voice, NPR and MSNBC)

4) The Libertarian media; The Brown Spectator (history), Diario de América (Spanish language libertarian newspaper in the USA, Pro Laissez Faire economics), The Freeman (history), The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy i(a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering political economy and the critical analysis of government policy), Inquiry Magazine (1977-1984), Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought (a libertarian journal published between 1965 and 1968), Libertarian Review (1972-1981), Liberty (libertarian magazine), Reason (an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the American libertarian think tank Reason Foundation), Regulation (a quarterly periodical about policy published by the American libertarian think tank Cato Institute)

5) I have no idea if there are Green media or Press in the USA. Newspapers and Magazines focussed on the Ecological agenda and Global Warming.

6) Of course religions have their press and media. An example of that is the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), an American Christian media production and distribution organization.

Pluriformity and diversity in the Press and Media Landscape is important and next to these often Federal and national Media you need also, regional and local press, Citizens journalism, Sport journalism, Heritage & History journalism, Science journalism, Business journalism, Culture & Fine Art Journalism (Art critics and Literary critics and Movie critics) and Music journalism, Reporting on Spaceflight and Science Fiction and of course serious Economical and Foreign Politics journalism, reporting, TV, Radio and Podcasts. Thank God we have Foreign Affairs, the New Republic, The Economist, The Financial Times, Deutsche Welle (DW) English and Der Spiegel Online English, Euronews, BBC World, France24, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Al Jazeera English, the Jerusalem Post, i24, Al Arabiya English and Ynet.

Pieter

Pieter