Summary Of Thomas Patterson's Informing The News: The Need For Knowledge Based Journalism?

Citing numerous studies of media content, composition and reception, Thomas Patterson in Informing the News: The Need for Knowledge-Based Journalism, argues for an ambitious rethinking of how journalists are trained. Concerned about the misinformation among Americans who rely on media as their main source of information, Patterson traces the quickening of news cycles from trends to process to elucidate how they have resulted in the loss of accuracy in reporting. Today’s journalists too often give equal weight to facts and biased opinions - stirring up small controversies and misjudging the context of facts. Many times they decide to substitute infotainment for real news. According to Patterson, there are six specific problems in journalism that have led to the corruption of information: information, source, knowledge, audience, education, and democracy. The new information environment in which we live in, is so vastly different from what it was a few decades ago. Patterson says it is nosier, more …show more content…
Patterson eloquently describes the Internet as “at once a goldmine of solid content and a hellhole of misinformation.” With Patterson’s suggestions put into practice, can a seismic shift in journalism occur? I questions if readers and writers will suddenly reevaluate their acceptance of facts and truths. We have to remember that along with the societal need for constant updates advertisers still drive news cycles. Patterson reminds us, “citizens do not study the news, the follow it.” Journalists are constantly serving two controllers, their editors and their advertisers. The question in the end is where would knowledge journalist find home? Could the new generation of journalists the book speaks of join newsroom run by those shaped by current journalists? Or should they look to new forms and platforms? Patterson mentions, but barely covers, the economic forces shaping