Walter Lippmann, John Dewey and the role of journalism and the public in a democracy. Based on a discussion in Jay Rosen's book "What Are Journalists For?"

1. Journalism and civic engagement
Walter Lippmann and John Dewey
grapple with democratic values

2. “What Are Journalists For?”
• Jay Rosen describes the
debate between
Lippmann and Dewey in
his 1999 book

3. “What Are Journalists For?”
• Jay Rosen describes the
debate between
Lippmann and Dewey in
his 1999 book
• Today Rosen would
probably ask “What Is
Journalism For?”

4. “What Are Journalists For?”
• Jay Rosen describes the
debate between
Lippmann and Dewey in
his 1999 book
• Today Rosen would
probably ask “What Is
Journalism For?”

5. Walter Lippmann
• Disillusioned by
propaganda to build
support for World War I

6. Walter Lippmann
• Disillusioned by
propaganda to build
support for World War I
• A founder of The New
Republic

7. Walter Lippmann
• Disillusioned by
propaganda to build
support for World War I
• A founder of The New
Republic
• Came to believe that
the public should have
a limited role in
democracy

8. “Public Opinion” (1922)
• Most people are busy,
ill-informed and ill-
suited for self-
government

9. “Public Opinion” (1922)
• Most people are busy,
ill-informed and ill-
suited for self-
government
• “Manufacturing
consent”

10. “Public Opinion” (1922)
• Most people are busy,
ill-informed and ill-
suited for self-
government
• “Manufacturing
consent”
• Lippmann put his faith
in experts — a stance
that later changed

11. John Dewey
• Philosopher,
psychologist and
education reformer

12. John Dewey
• Philosopher,
psychologist and
education reformer
• Maintained a strong
belief in democracy

13. John Dewey
• Philosopher,
psychologist and
education reformer
• Maintained a strong
belief in democracy
• A fellow contributor to
The New Republic, he
wrote a book-length
response to Lippmann

14. “The Public & Its Problems” (1927)
• Democracy is less a
system of government
than a society organized
around certain
principles

15. “The Public & Its Problems” (1927)
• Those principles, as
defined by Jay Rosen
– “Every individual has
something to
contribute”

16. “The Public & Its Problems” (1927)
• Those principles, as
defined by Jay Rosen
– “Every individual has
something to
contribute”
– “People are capable of
making their own
decisions”

17. “The Public & Its Problems” (1927)
• Those principles, as
defined by Jay Rosen
– “Every individual has
something to
contribute”
– “People are capable of
making their own
decisions”
– “The world is knowable
if we teach ourselves
how to study … it”

18. “The Public & Its Problems” (1927)
• Rosen on Dewey: “A
‘public’ is a name for
people who share
certain problems and a
common stake in their
resolution. Publics
come into their own
when this shared stake
is understood and
talked about, in a
fruitful way.”

19. The end of experts

20. But expertise has value

21. Dewey and journalism
• Is his vision compatible
with the View from
Nowhere?

22. Dewey and journalism
• Is his vision compatible
with the View from
Nowhere?
• Getting beyond
“Bowling Alone”

23. Dewey and journalism
• Is his vision compatible
with the View from
Nowhere?
• Getting beyond
“Bowling Alone”
• How can journalism
involve the public in a
meaningful way?