• Public Media and Political Independence: Lessons for the Future of Journalism from Around the World

    Rodney Benson
    Matthew Powers
    February 10, 2011

    We live in paradoxical times. The core institutions and systems that have supported journalism in America for decades are weathering a perfect storm of challenges that have undercut our country’s longstanding information infrastructure. At the same time, a new generation of news and journalism organizations is driving a renaissance in local reporting and reinvigorating our media system.

    This shifting media landscape has inspired a range of important reports and initiatives designed to help chart a course toward stronger journalism and media in America. In report after report, America’s public and noncommercial media sector has been held up as a core component of the future of hard-hitting, accountability journalism.

  • What Makes for a Critical Press? Research Shows a Role for Government Support

    Rodney Benson
    January 21, 2010

    Bob McChesney and John Nichols have called for the government to help promote more quality, “accountability” journalism. So have former Washington Post editor Leonard Downie, Jr., and journalism historian Michael Schudson, in their recent Columbia Journalism School-sponsored report.

    Many journalists, understandably, are skeptical of government support. As one writer responded to the Downie/Schudson report, “How many independent government-subsidized [or] funded news sources are there in the world? Somewhere between zero and none. Letting the government control the media is the first step toward a dictatorship… .”