Elite news may not be the answer

There is a debate in academia as to whether newspapers should continue to provide a diversity of content or whether they should focus their efforts on a few topic areas to survive. Democratic theory assumes that people should actively seek a diversity of information in order to make knowledgeable decisions governing their lives. The question is whether it is one publication’s role to meet those needs. And if one community publication does not exist for readers of all backgrounds, what will this mean? Entman and Herbst argue that democracy will negatively be affected if the press encourages citizens to be ignorant by tailoring information solely for the elite audiences.

However, others argue publications should cater to elites or experts because elites can gather, synthesize, and communicate information to citizens. Phil Meyer, Knight Chair in Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, argues that newspapers should concentrate their efforts on creating quality content for well-educated audiences. He argues the quality of news has diminished because of the need to disseminate a diversity of information.

I think it is important to evaluate the potential consequences and consider the audience before making this sort of committment. A recent study published in Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly by Tewksbury, Hals, and Bibart provides some evidence to counter the argument against creating content for elite audiences. The study divides people into two categories: Selectors (people who use the internet to find information on one topic at a time) and Browsers (those who use information sites to monitor what’s happening in the world). The results show that the majority of newspaper and internet news readers sampled tend to be browsers. These type of readers prefer to scan the publication on a range of topics to be informed on current affairs, and browsers feel more politically and socially aware. Browsers may prefer to scan a publication out of habit because that is how newspapers were read in the past.

I will agree that citizens are not ideal creatures consuming all of the information presented to them, but it is in their nature to connect with other people. But what happens if a publication does not exist to unite people of varying levels of knowledge?

Entman, R.M. and S. Herbst (2001) ’Reframing Public Opinion as We Have Known It’, in W.L. Bennett and R.M. Entman (eds.) Mediated Politics. Communication in the Future of Democracy, pp. 203-25. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Tewksbury, D., M.L. Hals, and A. Bibart (2008) ‘The Efficacy of News Browsing: The Relationship of News Consumption Style to Social and Political Efficacy’, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 85(2): 257-272.

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