Table of Contents

Personal Acknowledgments vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Part I Where Journalism Came From

1 14 or 15 Generations: News as a Cultural Form and Journalism as a Historical Formation 23

2 Walter Lippmann’s Ghost: An Interview 31

3 Is Journalism a Profession? Objectivity 1.0, Objectivity 2.0, and Beyond 41

Part II Going Deeper into Contemporary Journalism

4 The Danger of Independent Journalism 71

5 Belgium Invades Germany: Reclaiming Non-Fake News – Imperfect, Professional, and Democratic 81

6 Journalism in a Journalized Society: Reflections on Raymond Williams and the “Dramatised Society” 96

7 The Crisis in News: Can You Whistle a Happy Tune? 113

Part III Short Takes on Journalism and Democracy

8 Citizenship – According to “The Simpsons” 137

9 The Multiple Political Roles of American Journalism 149

10 Democracy as a Slow Government Movement 167

Part IV Afterword

11 Second Thoughts: Schudson on Schudson 181

Notes 195

About the Author

Michael Schudson is Professor of Journalism at Columbia University.

Reviews

“This provactive collection of essays by the nation’s pre-eminent scholar of journalism insightfully answers one of the central questions of our times.”
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, University of Pennsylvania

This is a scintillating collection of essays by the western world’s foremost scholar of journalism. 
James Curran, Goldsmiths, University of London
"One of the most important media scholars of our time, Schudson approaches the business of making news from a sociological and historical perspective, offering a new way to think of questions that bedevil us every day."
Mark Landler, The New York Times
“Why Journalism Still Matters is not only thought-provoking for fans of Schudson’s earlier works, but offers an opportunity for a wide range of students in political, media or sociological fields the chance to ponder this unique cultural intersection.”
Communication Booknotes Quarterly