Why don't these idiots like us?

The journalists I admire most are the paparazzi. Who else embodies the relentless search for truth for which we are supposed to stand? As we learned in class, many Americans look to celebrities as role models and guides. The paparazzi serve a watchdog role for many who look to celebrities as leaders in our national culture. If these people are truly the opinion shapers in America, then we owe the pazarazzi a great debt.

There was a tangible neurosis in class when we went through the sobering information that fewer and fewer people want what we do. Journalism has institutional abandonment issues, as evidenced when we are wringing our hands over why people don’t want us anymore.

As I sat in class and listened to the rather depressing statistics about Americans’ decline in readership of and trust in newspapers, I couldn’t help but think we only have ourselves to blame. No one suggested that we adapt or give people the celebrity-laden news they want. No one seems to think much of bloggers either. But I think nothing is more democratic than the blog. Why all the envious paranoia over something that brings more voices into policy making, more people to the table and increases the number of stakeholders in a given issue. That sounds like good journalism to me. I think the disdain (and what can only be called jealously) that journalists direct at bloggers sheds light on one of our most prized J-school myths: we are here to learn to be opinion leaders, not sentinels of democracy.

Now for an apostasy: maybe nothing distinguishes us from bloggers. There is nothing special about gathering and disseminating information to interested parties. In that regard, maybe nothing distinguishes us from barbers, either. Sure, we spent four years in journalism school and our degrees will signify that we know how to do the job well. That doesn’t count for nothing. But, do doctors gather to bite their nails and worry if increasingly unhealthy American public will one day abandon them? Do doctors decide that they will refuse to treat the American public until it is ready to live a healthier life? Of course not, because doctors are highly skilled, highly-specialized professionals who we cannot live without. Doctors cannot be easily replaced. As much as it hurts our pride, maybe we should face the music. Information gatherers, even highly educated and skilled ones, can be replaced. Our most recent lecture as an example, it has obviously already started. Journalists do worry about abandonment and I worry that we are speeding it up by refusing to treat the masses.

The issue of celebrity news seemed to pain our class the most. Sure, we pretended to be “disgusted” and “depressed” by the fact that the average American likes their celebrity gossip more than their hard-hitting policy analysis. But if you listened closely, what we were really hearing was hurt feelings. They don’t want us anymore, so we call them the “depressing, disgusting” dumb public. And no wonder they don’t want us anymore. There must be a reason that journalism is among the most despised professions. Maybe some of us take that elitist attitude out with us in public, when we are doing journalism and even when we are not. I wouldn’t like an elitist snob who thought their profession was humanity’s only hope, either. And I might not be convinced to trust them.

Which brings us back to the paparazzi. Is there really any difference between a paparazzo and a D.C. reporter circa Monica Lewinsky? As Downie and Kaiser illustrate on page 28 of The News About The News, many Americans didn’t think so, because they didn’t think very highly of hungry, drooling press coverage of the scandal. And yet, the public ate it up. The lesson here is that we should be more like the paparazzi. Let’s stop worrying about the audience leaving us while we are busy pushing them away. Give people what they want no matter what they say about us. If we have the information, they will always come back. It’s human nature to want to know, and that won’t be going away. Let’s give the paparazzi, grocery store glossies, gossips and yes, even the bloggers some credit. They have been voted most appealing and trustworthy by the great democracy we think we are guarding. Let’s adapt, win back some trust and please, grow a little humility, or we may find ourselves (the information professionals) made relics of the information age, wondering why the dumb and “disgusting” won’t come back to us.