News Values

A powerful statement of the fundamental issues, ethical and practical, confronting newspapers today. "Chicago Tribune" president and publisher Jack Fuller tackles the most pressing questions facing journalists in the 90s: What kind of truth do they claim to communicate? To what end? Should journalists lead or follow their communities? How are decisions about what makes "news" related to marketing? What is the future of newspapers? Drawing on 30 years of experience, from police reporter to editorial writer, war correspondent to editor, Fuller looks at what journalism should do in a free society and why. Focusing on tensions central to modern-day newspaper publishing - the duty to truth versus the obligation to sources; the push for diversity versus the need for coherence; the responsibility to reflect and, when necessary, oppose the community one serves - Fuller argues that intellectually honest "news-values" do exist and can continue to guide journalists even in today's competitive marketplace. Finally, Fuller examines advances in digital technology merging text, audio, and video and asks whether the new interactive electronic media will hasten newspapers' demise or stimulate their revival? The answer, he discovers, depends not only on whether print journalists master the new medium but also on whether they make it serve the basic values of journalism. To do that, they first must be clear about what those basic values are.