Event overview
Debate, dispute, discuss: journalism uncovered
Victor Pickard, currently a visiting fellow in the Department, presents his new book: 'Democracy without Journalism? Confronting the Misinformation Society'.
Chaired by Professor Des Freedman of the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths.
As local media institutions collapse and news deserts sprout up across the country, the US is facing a profound journalism crisis.
Meanwhile, continuous revelations about the role that major media outlets—from Facebook to Fox News—play in the spread of misinformation have exposed deep pathologies in American communication systems. Despite these threats to democracy, policy responses have been woefully inadequate.
In 'Democracy Without Journalism?' Victor Pickard argues that we're overlooking the core roots of the crisis. By uncovering degradations caused by run-amok commercialism, he brings into focus the historical antecedents, market failures, and policy inaction that led to the implosion of commercial journalism and the proliferation of misinformation through both social media and mainstream news.
The problem isn't just the loss of journalism or irresponsibility of Facebook, but the very structure upon which our profit-driven media system is built. The rise of a "misinformation society" is symptomatic of historical and endemic weaknesses in the American media system tracing back to the early commercialization of the press in the 1800s.
While professionalization was meant to resolve tensions between journalism's public service and profit imperatives, Pickard argues that it merely camouflaged deeper structural maladies. Journalism has always been in crisis. The market never supported the levels of journalism—especially local, international, policy, and investigative reporting—that a healthy democracy requires. Today these long-term defects have metastasized.
Victor Pickard is an Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication. His research focuses on the history and political economy of media institutions, media activism, and the politics and normative foundations of media policy. The author of over 100 book chapters, articles, and essays, Pickard’s work has been published widely in anthologies and scholarly journals. He has written or edited six books.
Free event followed by a Q&A.
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Dates & times
Date | Time | Add to calendar |
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13 Feb 2020 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm |
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