Matt Carlson, Sue Robinson, and Seth C. Lewis, News After Trump: Journalism’s Crisis of Relevance in a Changed Media Culture

Abstract

note of and debate within their classrooms. The authors open the floor for a critical discussion that could change the ways of journalism and encourage these discussions and debates in the classroom. One of the important discussions within the book is the relationship between journalism and philosophy. The authors argue that the common interests of both need to be recognized as a way of restoring trust. A connection of philosophy to the foundation of journalism establishes a complex, theoretical understanding of how ethics and ethical thinking interact and can be transformed into actionable pursuits by journalists within their field. Furthermore, it allows journalists and the public to understand the current issues rooted in journalism’s dialect, ontology and epistemology and how they need to change to combat the key issues plaguing journalism. The ongoing disconnect and contention between the overlying components of philosophy and journalism is a disconnect that needs to be bridged to bring journalism, and the ethics of journalism, into the future. Therefore, this book is vital in the classrooms of aspiring and upcoming journalists. It is correct for the authors to state that understanding ideology and the complex dissection of the foundation of journalism is crucial for journalism students. This knowledge demonstrates what must change for a chance at a solution, and these students are the ones who will enact that change. This work is essential not only for journalism students but also for researchers and professionals. It helps tailor journalism as a profession for those who truly value it, separating the self-acclaimed journalist from the professional one in a new way. Patching and Hirst believe journalists have to stop being bystanders to the stories and begin playing an “integral role” in them. There is a call to change that “journalists should become a part of the solution, not willing participants in covering up the problem” (p. 230), and for this to happen, journalists must be the ones to carry out that change by collaborating with their audiences and using their own values within journalism. This allows for an establishment of lasting value in reporting and the news, as well as for journalists to re-evaluate their role as the public’s informants. The discussion and understanding that this book entails will encourage that change and provide journalism students with a proper foundation of how to do so and why they should.