“But what is the nature of journalism at its core? It is the reporting of news that will attract attention.”
No.
“Attracting attention” is just one way journalism fulfills it’s nature.
It’s nature it’s core, it’s purpose is to make money.
That’s usually not a problem, or at least is better than any alternative.
With the Welfare State, journalism is conflicted by welfare being a government subsidy for consumer spending- and all commercial media benefit from that subsidy.
Consider that even “politically Correct” speech and behavior are just the language of marketers- which is esigned to offend the fewest possible customers.
No.“But what is the nature of journalism at its core? It is the reporting of news that will attract attention.”
“Attracting attention” is just one way journalism fulfills it’s nature. It’s nature it’s core, it’s purpose is to make money.
That objection applies to every company mission statement. But it’s cynical. Everyone wants to get paid, but not everyone starts a shoe repair business, or a jewelry store, or an aircraft factory, or . . .All businesses must make money. The mission statement tells What makes this company worth paying money to?
In that sense, journalism attracts attention. That is worth money to advertisers, who pay for the newspaper’s attracting eyeballs to the proximity of the ads.
Even that is cynical, the journalist would say. The journalist would claim to inform the public, thereby performing a public service. Most of us, I dare say, once believed that - and most of us feel used now that we know that journalism functionally is part of the Democrat Party. Wikileaks reveals that the symbiosis between journalism and the Democrat Party is, if anything, more intimate even than conservatives wanted to believe.
Hah!Not infrequently, advertisers deliberately irritate potential customers in a bid to make them remember their ads.