The Ethical Context for Public Journalism: As an Ethical Foundation for Public Journalism, Communitarian Philosophy Provides Principles for Practitioners to Apply to Real-World Problems

Abstract

Despite vehement criticism, more than 200 public journalism projects have been undertaken in the past five years. Whether this represents the beginning of a trend or just another passing fad, the sheer number of public journalism projects prompts the question, Why now? One answer may be that the current adoption of public journalism's philosophies is in part due to the concomitant development of communitarian ethics, a philosophy that offers the notion that the individual is dependent on the community. Public journalism was not viable until now because it lacked a strong, underlying ethical system that communitarianism has provided. This article shows how communitarian philosophy provides an underpinning for public journalism. Real-world problems of public journalism are examined using communitarian principles. The purpose is not to debate the arguments for and against specific practices of public journalism, but to examine the underlying concepts and analyze them in fundamental ways that are not addressed by the point-counterpoint articles in trade journals.