Chapter 8: Media and Society: A Service-Learning Class

The first decade of the 21st century has been a difficult one for American journalism. The number of journalists employed full time in the field has fallen precipitously (McChesney & Nichols, 2010). News organizations are seeking cheaper content and dedicating more time to entertainment, sports, and political horse race coverage rather than to public affairs and investigative reporting (The Changing Newsroom, 2008). Audiences for cable and network news are declining (State of the News Media, 2011). Newspaper circulation is down and ad revenue, the primary source of funding for American news organizations for many decades, is declining (State of the News Media, 2011). The rise of the Internet has led not only to disruption of the industry’s financial model, but also to the disaggregation of content, meaning consumers are increasingly exposed to only the news they seek out—often referred to as the “the daily me” (Negroponte, 1995)—rather than to news they might incidentally consume when reading a newspaper or watching a news broadcast. Moreover, the public holds an increasingly dim view of members of the press, reporting declining opinions about the news media and its practitioners (Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two Decade Low, 2009). In addition, the media are seen as members of the elite rather than as representatives of the public (Bennett, Lawrence, & Livingston, 2007), leading to increased discussion of the media as the “fourth estate” (Cook, 2005) rather than as a voice for the people.