The Elements of Journalism, Revised and Updated

It reveals that journalism has always been more of a service—a means for providing social connection and knowledge—than a fixed product—an outlet’s stories or advertising

The late James Carey, one of the most innovative thinkers about news, put it this way decades ago: “Perhaps in the end journalism simply means carrying on and amplifying the conversation of people themselves.”

The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing

the purpose of journalism is defined not by technology, nor by journalists or the techniques they employ, but by something more basic: the function news plays in the lives of people

They are the elements of journalism: The first among them is that the purpose

of journalism is to provide people with the information they need to be free and self-governing.
To fulfill this task:
1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to citizens.
3. Its essence is a discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as a monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
8. It must present the news in a way that is comprehensive and proportional.

9. Its practitioners have an obligation to exercise their personal conscience.
10. Citizens have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news as well—even more so as they become producers and editors themselves

The key to this, first, is to distinguish between the principles that guide journalism’s purpose and not confuse them with the more ephemeral techniques that one generation develops in a specific medium to fulfill those principles