Currently, journalism is driven by profit rather than truth. Sensationalism often trumps fact-based reporting, as readers gravitate toward attention grabbing stories. Large corporations control media outlets, and traditional revenue models of journalism such as print media and advertising are in steep decline. Many have debated solutions to this crisis, and the Review takes special interest in the problem, as a significant portion of our team intends to pursue careers in journalism.
After attending the Athens Democracy Conference in October 2024, I was influenced by the panels centered around preserving democracy in journalism. Within one of these panels a radical idea was proposed: journalism must be redefined as a public service. For journalism to remain a pillar of democracy, it must be considered a public right, and in turn, receive funding from the government.
At first, I was skeptical of this proposal. I immediately worried about government influence over journalism, fearing that such funding would lead to interference, which seemed counterproductive. I spent months reflecting on this until I finally began to break down the core essence of journalism: its purpose is to inform the public and act as the “fourth estate” in a democracy. Journalism holds governments, corporations, and other institutions accountable while uplifting communities. Above all, journalism is essential for democratic participation and governance.
And yet, many of us treat the journalism around us as a commodity rather than a public good. Subscriptions and paywalls, which we see in many major newspaper outlets today, restrict access to quality journalism to only those who can afford it. There has also been a rise in competition between media outlets, which plays into sensationalism, as journalism strays further from what informs to what sells. Platforms like X, formerly known as Twitter; Facebook; and Youtube also push true journalism to the margins of media, framing stories that once again prioritize views rather than accuracy. Many in my generation prefer infographics over articles, and it is no surprise that misinformation is at an all-time high across platforms. With this, I find many of us falling deeper into comfortability with shortcutting information, which is not only a disservice to truly accountable and transparent journalism but a disservice to us as democratic citizens.
This is why considering journalism as a public service is not out of the frame of possibility. Government funding, with the correct number of safeguards that hold the government itself accountable, would allow for journalism that is not bound by commercial interests, which will only spur independent and in-depth reporting. Public funding also ensures that journalism is acessible to all, regardless of socioeconomic status.
Public funding would also help the challenges journalism is facing today. When it comes to economic pressures, public funding would relieve some of the dependency on traditional revenue models that are currently declining. In terms of misinformation, not only would public funding expand the amount of journalists who are able to commit time to pursuing credible journalism, but it would allow news media outlets to counteract fake news on social media. This is especially true as it pertains to local journalism. Local journalism, more than anything, is on a rapid decline, and many towns find themselves in a news desert where they are unable to find accessible information about their local governance and resources. Public funding could be dedicated to reviving local journalism, taking power away from large corporations controlling media outlets by putting money into local journalism. Newsrooms across the states would be able to pursue investigative and informative journalism for the benefit of their community bringing regions out of their news deficit. Overall, it would begin the process of putting journalism back into the hands of the people with the intention of treating it as a right rather than a privilege.
There are examples, outside of America, of this movement being successful in some form or another. BBC, for example, is a publicly funded news organization that maintains journalistic independence and public interest globally. Other countries, such as Canada and Scandinavian regions, have government supported media systems that help maintain journalistic independence. The fear of governmental influence, as mentioned before, is a valid concern. There is also the concern of a balance of power especially when it comes to bias in government-funded media. But we also must come to terms with the very real truth that this is already occurring. Trump has recently curtailed the Associated Press, and political parties have aligned themselves with different media outlets such as Fox News and CNN. On a daily basis, many of us substitute journalistic news for information from Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram — all platforms that are under the control of corporations who have no allegiance to truthful reporting and profit off of misinformation. We are already living in an era of governmental influence over the media. Public funding to journalism would create more opportunities for inspiring writings, newsrooms, and other media to pursue the publishing of information without financial constraints.
This is by far not the only solution to our current journalism crisis. Our country is vast and the problems facing our newsrooms differ from region to region, even from town to town. What I stress more than anything is changing our conversations around journalism as a commodity to focusing on it as a public service that deserves a considerable amount of financial support from our communities. Every day, true journalism is undermined and undervalued at our own hands, and this is to our detriment. We must begin truly prioritizing the funding and the sustaining of one of our founding principles — the principle of journalistic freedom and integrity.
