Public Journalism and Deliberative Democracy

Public journalism may be the most significant reform movement in American journalism since the Progressive era. Prompted by flagging popular interest in public life and declining newspaper readership and influenced by ideals of deliberative democracy, public journalists think the promotion of reasonable and informed dialogue among citizens should be part of the role journalists play in a democracy. They have reconstructed traditional reporting practices by advocating public listening in newsgathering, by producing purposeful news, and by encouraging public debate. Such reforms have drawn fire from critics who believe they endanger standards of journalistic independence and fairness. Though public journalists can overcome their mainstream critics, they must look more carefully at their deliberative democratic goals to generate more precise standards of professional practice. Turning to the theoretical literature for a model of deliberation, this paper argues that the role of journalists in promoting public deliberation is different and more circumscribed than public journalists believe.