Walter Lippman, The Right to Know, and The Noble Pursuit

"The news of the day as it reaches the newspaper office is an incredible medley of fact, propaganda, rumor, suspicion, clues, hopes, and fears, and the task of selecting and ordering that news is one of the truly sacred and priestly offices in a democracy." ~Walter Lippmann 1920

Walter Lippmann’s statement relates to one of the most important purposes of journalism in a democracy: satisfying the people’s right to know. This essential right allows citizens to actively and effectively participate in their society. Traditionally, the journalist assumes the role of presenting an accessible account of events. In so doing, journalists strengthen democracy by providing citizens with the knowledge needed to develop informed opinions and to act on these opinions. With drastic changes working their way through the news industry, the relevancy of Lippmann’s statement can be called into question. Has the role of “selecting and ordering the news” shifted from that of the print journalist to include other actors, and is it still “one of the truly sacred and priestly offices in a democracy?”

The news coverage of the 2009 Summit on Climate Change reveals that Lippmann’s statement remains applicable to today’s news environment, but in ways that Lippmann probably did not foresee. After browsing the collective web project Carbon Watch both before, during and after the Summit, I realized that the job of sorting through and presenting the news has become more expansive. This web project not only includes news articles, but also videos, fact sheets, blogs, links to relevant sites, interviews with experts, and citizen responses. This plethora of information and news platforms reflects a shift from the newspaper office as the main actor in providing citizens with information. Citizens themselves are no longer passive receivers of news; they often create the news by posting their opinions or even gathering and sharing information. New technology threatens to bombard everyone with an overload of material, so the job of sorting the useful from the useless remains essential. This is especially true in the matter of climate change, as scientists discover new clues and effects on a regular basis and politics threaten to cloud the bigger picture.

Lippmann’s description of journalism as “sacred” and “priestly” reflects the image of journalists as the heroes of democracy. Today, with some news conglomerates seemingly more intent on profits than on challenging the status quo, this elevated status of the journalist begins to diminish. Regardless, the citizen’s right to know must be fulfilled. Those who participate in presenting fair and thorough news, whether they are journalists or citizens, continue to uphold a noble pursuit.

Carbon Watch Website: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/carbonwatch/