To Inform or to Entertain...That's the Question

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In our readings for last week we were introduced to the idea of entertainment within normal news. According to the reading, the job of the news is to inform as well as entertain the masses. I can truly understand how difficult this must be for journalists today. We are living in a world of star obsession and reality television. We are enticed only by what seems fun, exciting, and even shocking. The news doesn't always encompass these things and that is the downfall of our news media today. It is unable to entice people who can see anything they find exciting on demand, via internet or cable television. With this in mind, journalists must be more aware of their ever changing audience. They must seek out new and alternative ways of presenting important information to readers and viewers. The world of journalism is changing and in this new world it is the journalists job to pull in viewers.

I feel it is the duty of journalists to change with their viewers. By changing with their viewers, journalists can provide the news that is needed to keep our country running democratically. Without information, the citizens of the country are unable to make informed decisions. Because of this fact, we can see the importance of journalists in democratic society. It is a journalists duty to inform and if that can only be accomplished through evolving with their viewers, then that should be the path taken. I don't know where a medium between information and entertainment lies, but we all have to remember that the goal of news is to serve the people. The news doesn't belong to journalists, it belongs to the people. There are journalists that behave as if news belongs to them and as if the golden of age of news has passed. I feel it is most important to convert these people so they can see the importance of the viewer in the organization of news.