It used to be that everyone knew, or thought they knew, what journalism was and who journalists were. Those were the days when journalists served as the gatekeepers to public information–an idea that now seems archaic. This report from the CAJ Ethics Advisory Committee is a response to questions considered by the committee surrounding the increasingly elusive definition of journalism and the distinct role, if any, of journalists.
J-Source , led by the journalism programs at Ryerson University (which is currently engaged in a renaming process) and Carleton University, is supported by the post-secondary journalism programs at member institutions of J-Schools Canada/Écoles-J Canada, the R. Howard Webster Foundation and a group of donors.
French-language publication Projet J, hosted by J-Source, is led by the journalism program at the Université du Québec à Montréal and funded by a group of donors.
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July 17, 2012
Nicely done. This looks like
Nicely done. This looks like a very cool resource. I'm very much looking forward to applying these criteria to a range of reporting to see how the test works, what it excludes and what it affirms.
I especially like that you present these three dimensions as being necessary conditions. Other approaches focus on what is sufficiently journalistic, and the work you have done here is much more difficult in my opinion. Also glad to see that the very first criterion relates to the issues of direct and indirect benefits, conflict of interest, and effectively the challenges of selling advertising in journalistic enterprises. I'll also be interested to see how this test applies to different domains of journalism, like politics or science reporting.