A. Agenda

     George Orwell said a strong motive in his writing was to right wrongs. Some journalists agree. They say they have an agenda for their communities and that they practice an activist journalism.
     On the other hand, some believe the press should not lead, not take an activist position.
     "It is not the role of the press to fix the problems of society," said Katherine Graham, chairman of the board of The Washington Post. "We need to broaden our coverage, to show the problem and how it's being fought. We can't and shouldn't lead in that sense (as advocate). What we can do is to report it better....
     "... newspapers are information bringers, not advocates.... when you get into being a leader in a campaign, you screw up your news...."
     Here is the view of Eugene Patterson, former editor of the St. Petersburg Times:

     The press is not anointed to set the public's agenda for it. However, it is situated, and in the best sense obligated, to be the listener and messenger that hears and conveys the people's own agenda to the public arena....
     ... reporters are beginning to turn where they should, back to the people, to hear their definitions of the real issues that touch their lives. By giving those concerns sharper voice in the politician's press conferences, the press is starting to interrupt the political vaudeville of past campaigns and ask the legitimate questions, those of the public....

     Yet many of the great achievements in journalism—see the work of the muckrakers—were those of advocates.
     What is your position in this debate over the role of the journalist? Should the journalist have an agenda? Should he or she be active in digging out news relevant to items on the agenda? Is it advocacy when a reporter who finds a high rate of infant mortality in the community bases his or her journalism on lowering the rate?

B. Dumb-Down

     Newspaper advertising was down. Circulation was failing to keep up with population growth. Newspapers had lost 5.5 million subscribers. Studies showed that the precise audience, the men and women ages 25–43, who are big buyers of the products newspapers advertise, were not reading newspapers. The media critic of The Washington Post wrote, "The smell of death permeates the newspaper business."
     In a massive self-analysis, publishers, editors and reporters have tried to find a formula that would bring back the newspaper reader. Here are excerpts from one response to some of the remedies. It is by David Nyhen, columnist for The Boston Globe:

     What do you think would be a good newspaper strategy for the 21st century?

C. Background

     The police report that an explosion in a local residence has resulted in the death of a man. Your check of the files determines that the dead man had served time in the state penitentiary for armed robbery. Do you include his conviction in the story about the death?