Informing the News

A frank assessment of the failings of journalism today and what needs to be done in order to provide the knowledge-based reporting necessary to maintain the health of our democratic political process.Information is the linchpin to a healthy democracy. Substantive policy debates critically depend on an educated and well-informed public. However, with "balanced" reporting in which equal weight is given to facts and biased opinion, journalists have become part of the problem. Though the failure of the political process cannot rest entirely with the media's shortcomings, it is clear that without a correction in the way journalism is conducted and received, there is little chance of things changing for the better in our public forum. Patterson proposes constructive changes to improve the quality of journalism today. In order to be relevant journalists can no longer be reporters of facts. Patterson calls for a "knowledge-based journalism" whereby journalists...