JournoList and journalism

The decline of the the daily newspaper combined with the rise of the Internet has produced a de facto struggle for the integrity of public information.

The newspapers once served as the effective benchmark, regardless of any criticism that might be brought to bear regarding how well they upheld their responsibilities.

The recent story at Politico about the "JournoList" discussion group intrigued me from that angle. Though the membership of the list is predominantly leftward-leaning, members apparently like the list because it helps ensure better information.

Indeed, the advantage of JList, members say, is that it provides a unique forum for getting in touch with historians and policy people who provide journalists with a knowledge base for articles and blog posts

So this group of journalists ends up drawing on a knowledge base chosen by and/or made up of folks who tilt to the left. This seems like the sort of thing that would register a warning flag with the best journalists. We shouldn't want to restrict the pool of ideas along ideological lines or draw our expert opinions primarily from one side of an issue. JournoList lends itself to the type of "echo chamber" effect already prevalent in newsrooms around the country. JournoList represents a nationalized form of the same thing.

POLITICO’s Mike Allen, Ben Smith and Lisa Lerer are on the list. “The roster includes some of the savviest authorities on everything from behavioral economics to Ben’s Chili Bowl,” Allen said. “It’s a window into a world of passionate experts — an hourly graduate education.”

Said another JLister: “I don’t know any other place where working journalists, policy wonks and academics who write about current politics and political history routinely communicate with one another.”

I don't doubt that the system offers some distinct benefits. But it's hard to imagine that JournoList reinforces an objective approach to journalism if the list is ideologically tilted. On the contrary, even if it isn't the purpose of the list, it would be natural for the list to produce an ideologically tinged news product at the end of the day.

Good for Politico for publishing a story about it.