Twilight of Press Freedom

by John C. Merrill, Peter J. Gade, Frederick R. Blevens

This volume offers a historical, philosophical, and practical critique of public and civic journalism--a movement that gained momentum in the final decade of the 20th century. During that period, proponents of the movement have published nearly a dozen books expanding upon and expounding the virtues of journalism, seeking to repair what is thought to be the torn social, political, and moral fabric in America. Although previous works have established a strong practical underpinning for public and civic journalism, none has examined its philosophical roots or challenged its methodology and grounding in neoliberal constructs. This volume does just that, tracing its origins in early philosophy to the current newsroom policies and practices that conflict with traditional constructs in libertarian press theory.

Twilight of Press Freedom postulates that institutionalized journalism is fading away and world journalism--prompted by the people--is veering toward more order and social harmony, and away from the traditional idea of the great value of press freedom. The volume provides a critical examination of the trend toward public journalism and considers how press freedom will be impacted by this trend in coming years. Scholars and students in journalism, public opinion, and media studies will find this book insightful and invaluable.

244 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Dr. John C. Merrill was a long-time journalism professor/professor emeritus at the Missouri School of Journalism, University of Missouri. He served four years in the Navy during WWII. After the war he got his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Delta State College and LSU respectively, a PH.D. in mass communication from the University of Iowa and a M.A. in philosophy fom the University of Missouri in 1971.
Professionaly he was affiliated to the Northwestern State College in Natchitoches, Louisiana and to the Texas A & M University. Between 1964 and 1980 he was a professor at the University of Missouri. In 1980 he became a professor at the University of Maryland, where he left after one year to become director of the School of Journalism at Louisiana State University. Three years later he returned to teaching at LSU, from which he retired in 1991. He returnd to Columbia and continued to teach part time at the School of Journalism until 2000 and teaching, lecturing and conducted workshops all over the world.
Dr. Merrill received numerous honors and distinguished professorships. Amongst these were the Honor Medal for Distinguished Service to Journalism of the University of Missouri (1996) and the campus-wide Award for Research from Louisiana State University. In 1975, he and Bill Rivers of Stanford University, were the first members of the Journalism Hall of Fame at Louisiana State University.