ENGL 201 01: Introduction to Journalism
“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them." –Thomas Jefferson
A free press and the practice of journalism are pillars of any open, informed, participatory society. As such, it is the job of the journalist to provide citizens with the information, knowledge and insight they need to make the best possible decisions about their individual and civic lives. Of course, they won’t always do that—you can lead a horse to water, etc.—but it generally holds true that functioning democracies have a thriving practice of journalism and easy access to information, news, opinions, narratives and ideas. Closed, regressive societies generally do not. It wasn’t a fluke that Jefferson and the Founding Fathers wrote freedom of the press into the Bill of Rights.
So, congratulations prospective journalist, you may not get paid like it, but you’re more important than any Fortune 500 CEO. Now, let’s make sure you know what you’re doing.
“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them." –Thomas Jefferson
A free press and the practice of journalism are pillars of any open, informed, participatory society. As such, it is the job of the journalist to provide citizens with the information, knowledge and insight they need to make the best possible decisions about their individual and civic lives. Of course, they won’t always do that—you can lead a horse to water, etc.—but it generally holds true that functioning democracies have a thriving practice of journalism and easy access to information, news, opinions, narratives and ideas. Closed, regressive societies generally do not. It wasn’t a fluke that Jefferson and the Founding Fathers wrote freedom of the press into the Bill of Rights.
So, congratulations prospective journalist, you may not get paid like it, but you’re more important than any Fortune 500 CEO. Now, let’s make sure you know what you’re doing.
- Teacher: Joseph Donnelly
- Teacher: Angela Olivas