The McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute at The King's College in NYC condemns violence and hateful rhetoric by protestors against news media professionals. We condemn the violence and rhetoric when it comes from the political and cultural left or right. MPJI is concerned by the disrespect and threats toward journalists and the destruction of journalistic equipment by supporters of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 as they gathered in Washington D.C. and disrupted congressional proceedings on Capitol Hill.
Journalists provide a vital function of reporting, research, fact-checking and truth-telling in society. The news media provides a first draft of history. News media outlets - from right, left and center - develop their audiences over time by the quality of their journalistic work and adherence to ethics, standards and norms.
As part of the American experiment, the United States has championed a free, independent and responsible press. It has promoted media literacy by allowing newspapers to be mailed cheaply to citizens. According to historian Paul Starr in "The Creation of The Media," the insightful approach to develop quality information and news ecology in 19th Century America led to the U.S. having some of the highest rates of newspaper readership, overall societal literacy and school attendance anywhere in the world.
With technology platforms and hyper-partisanship altering the distribution methods of news media, we believe many Americans are experiencing a backward slide in media literacy and an emerging inequality of information. And we see an emerging temptation for some news organizations to become more partisan, catering to their partisan audiences from left or right.
At MPJI, we will not depart from our mission to train student journalists how to be intellectually honest, rigorous and curious. We believe the best hope for a robust American future involves restoring faith in institutions including the news media.
- Paul Glader, Executive Director of the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute