by Dr Jenny M. Taylor
Could the flourishing history of journalism provide
clues for enabling it to flourish in future?
Why is society’s watchdog, the press, with its long and
often honourable pedigree, going feral? Failing to bark at
misrepresentation and fraud, while snarling at truth?
Why does journalism have the privileged position it does?
As commercialization collides with the greatest
communication revolution since Gutenberg, why are both
revenues and media ethics in meltdown?
If digital and now AI-produced media have “the most
prodigious capability for spreading lies the world has ever
seen” (Alan Rusbridger, Editor, The Guardian, U.K.), is it
coincidence that readers turning away in the millions,
globally?
Yes, news mongering there has always been! But
responsible journalism has foundations that have been sadly
neglected.
Why did journalism – the Fourth Estate epitomized by
Edmund Burke – emerge first in Europe, even though China
had printing nearly a thousand years earlier? That epic tale is
not known to many people today, not even most journalists.
How far back do the origins of public discourse go? What
was it about moral fervour, all the way back to the Hebrew
people, that revolutionized not only Greek and Roman
classical narrative, but also the understanding of values,
character, personality, and indeed language itself? Should
it surprise us that America’s first newspaper editor was
a Christian preacher? What was the connection between
Bible translation and public discourse, of which responsible
journalism was the most brilliant – and indispensable –
adjunct?
For some, a surprising tale, for others even an unpalatable
one: Saving Journalism recounts the often heroic past – and,
just possibly, may equip and inspire you to help win back its
future.