The Strength of Journalism

(6)

This is the great strength of journalism. Written words have a kind of stonelike persistence. So do spoken words if they are recorded. So do recorded actions. The strengths and weaknesses of those recorded words and actions are subject to public evaluation. The 'publicness' of 'the record' is what matters, and is what ultimately determines the quality of that particular 'information sequence.'

The opposite of 'journalism' is 'private thinking.'

Private thinking is never verifiable, even to the thinker. Private thinking has the solidity of air, and as such is highly succeptible to decorations, balloons, confetti, etc. Actions, especially public actions, on the other hand, have a substance to them which can refute reports of private thinking. Private thinking is often riddled with self-deception. We distrust private thinking, especially in The Other, but we don't distrust it so much in ourselves. Indeed, we guild our own private thinking with the golden aura of 'true recall' and are surprised to discover that our memories have been distorted by our predelections.