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Journalists must take responsibility

Jeff Jarvis is a well known and regarded journalism professor at the City University of New York - who also blogs at buzzmachine.com.

Writing in Comment is Free in The Guardian Jarvis calls journalists to account:

"The fall of journalism is journalists' fault. It is our fault we did not see change coming soon enough and ready our craft for its transition. It is our fault we did not exploit - hell, too many resisted - the opportunities new media and new relationships with the public presented. It is our fault we lost readers and squandered trust. It is our fault we did not give adequate stewardship to journalism and left business to the business people. It is our fault we sat back and expected some princely patron to support us."

And:

"Finally, Farhi glosses over the state of journalism's relationship with its public. He brags that almost 50 million Americans still buy papers and so, he argues, readership is not the issue. But circulation is down more than 14% since 1970 while population has risen 50%. Penetration is roughly half what it was: a mere 17% v 30%. In the UK, daily national newspaper readership dropped 19% in 15 years. I'd say our relationship with readers is a problem. A Gallup survey says 52% of Americans do not trust news media, up from 30% in 1972. Who's responsible for that? My purpose in rebutting Farhi, Greenslade and Monck is not to flagellate journalists but to empower them. To take responsibility for the fall of journalism is to take responsibility for its fate. Who'll try to save it if not journalists? There's not a minute to waste whining."

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