Duty as a journalist to read the paper?
Poynter's Roy Peter Clark writes "It is your duty as a journalist and a citizen to read the newspaper -- emphasis on paper, not pixels." Is there any irony in the fact that he's making the argument online? That I heard about the article through the online journalism listserv?
Here's the rub, Roy: No amount of guilt-induced personal/professional subsidizing will counteract this simple fact: Journalism's all about inviting people to the agora, and the online agora simply accommodates more people, and more efficiently. Embrace it.
I agree that journalism is about invite folks to the agora (I ain't agoraphobic), but the invitation comes with a purpose. To me that purpose requires journalists to go out into the world with their feet, find things out, and check things out. The health of the agora still depends upon that. And it still requires resources to accomplish that mission. And, at least for now, newspapers attract most of those resources. Thanks for the vine.
Posted by: Roy Peter Clark | October 12, 2007 at 08:45 AM