Are Journalism and Politics Inextricably Joined?

An anonymous reader writes "Retiring figure Bill Moyers makes his case in a recent speech delivered at the Society of Professional Journalists 2004 national convention. 'But I approach the end of my own long run believing more strongly than ever that the quality of journalism and the quality of democracy are inextricably joined.' It is a deep argument, made poignant by the recently murdered Francisco Ortiz Franco of Mexico, Manik Saha of India, and Aiyathurai Nadesan of Sri Lanka, among others. It is a broad argument, touching on history from America's first best seller to yesterday's blog. Is it a convincing argument?"

quality?

[bcrowell]

the quality of journalism and the quality of democracy are inextricably joined.
Counterexample: slashdot is very democratic.

OT: Your Vote matters?

[JThundley]

Look in the upper left corner. Slashdot: Politics for Nerds. Your vote matters.

And what is today's Slashdot poll? What color is your stapler?

Your vote matters!

Whew.

[commodoresloat]

Thanks.

That was a close one; I almost had to read the article.

Re:No, sorry.

[Citizen of Earth]

Democracy depends on the populace having the information to make informed decisions

Democracy depends on the populace having the CAPACITY to make informed decisions. We're doomed.

Re:Founding Fathers thought so.

[shobadobs]

No, biased news is good. As long as the bias vectors all point in a whole bunch of different directions.

Re:Freedom of Bias

[Loco3KGT]

WHO ARE YOU KIDDING?

Recent polls show that 90% of journalists are liberals!