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The Basic Tasks Of Journalism

Decent Essays

Christians et al. classify “the basic tasks of journalism in a democracy under three main headings:
1. The task of observing and informing, primarily as a service to the public
2. The task of participating in public life as an independent actor by way of critical comment, advice, advocacy and expression of opinion
3. The task of providing a channel, forum, or platform for extramedia voices or sources to reach a self-chosen public” (pp. 116).

This “tasks” could be developed and performed by journalism in four types of outlets, in their specific media systems, characterized by Christians et al. as it follows (p. 117):
1. The internally pluralist and secular media that seek to maximize circulation, which appeal to a wide range of audiences
2. The externally pluralist commercial media that seek to maximize circulation, but orienting its content to a like-minded audience
3. The partisan media, noncommercial and in a small scale, oriented to ideas of a particular group
4. The minority media of opinion and debate

The authors display these types of media in a diagram (p. 118) in order to organize and visualize the way in which different outlets and journalism can be located in a continuum between open access and closed access (to audiences) and the media as an observer or a participant (that can be used as a weapon).

Within this landscape, Christians et al. point out the most typical journalistic roles, as it follows (p. 12):
1. The monitorial role
2. The facilitative role
3.

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