"To conclude: good journalism is one of the models of good conversation and communication in the wider social context"
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Good journalism, Rowan Williams argues, should feel less like a broadcast and more like a room you can enter. Coming from a cleric who spent years translating moral complexity into public language, the line smuggles in a quiet demand: journalism isn’t just information delivery; it’s civic formation. The goal is to model how a society talks when it isn’t panicking, posturing, or selling something.
The key move is “model.” Williams isn’t praising journalists for occasionally informing us; he’s assigning them a pedagogical role. A model of “good conversation” implies virtues: attentiveness, fairness, patience with ambiguity, and a refusal to reduce people to caricatures. In Christian pastoral terms, that’s close to a discipline of listening. It also hints at accountability: if journalism is an exemplar, then its failures aren’t merely professional lapses but social contagions. Sensationalism doesn’t just mislead; it teaches citizens to be sensationalist.
The phrase “wider social context” widens the stakes beyond media insiders and newsroom ethics panels. Williams is pointing at the ambient climate of speech: how we argue online, how politicians perform certainty, how communities metabolize conflict. In an era where “conversation” is often algorithmically optimized outrage, he offers a counter-ideal where inquiry is a public good.
The intent isn’t nostalgic. It’s strategic. If you want a plural society to hold together, you need shared habits of communication. Journalism, at its best, rehearses those habits in public.
The key move is “model.” Williams isn’t praising journalists for occasionally informing us; he’s assigning them a pedagogical role. A model of “good conversation” implies virtues: attentiveness, fairness, patience with ambiguity, and a refusal to reduce people to caricatures. In Christian pastoral terms, that’s close to a discipline of listening. It also hints at accountability: if journalism is an exemplar, then its failures aren’t merely professional lapses but social contagions. Sensationalism doesn’t just mislead; it teaches citizens to be sensationalist.
The phrase “wider social context” widens the stakes beyond media insiders and newsroom ethics panels. Williams is pointing at the ambient climate of speech: how we argue online, how politicians perform certainty, how communities metabolize conflict. In an era where “conversation” is often algorithmically optimized outrage, he offers a counter-ideal where inquiry is a public good.
The intent isn’t nostalgic. It’s strategic. If you want a plural society to hold together, you need shared habits of communication. Journalism, at its best, rehearses those habits in public.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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