Towards a theory and practice of journalism criticism

My current writing project aims to develop the theory and practice of journalism criticism, foregrounding listening practices as central to press reform strategies to improve coverage of social and cultural inequalities. While journalistic resistance to press reform — the habit of turning a ‘deaf ear’ to critics — is a well-rehearsed theme in cultural research, recent efforts to foster critical conversations about press performance emerging from political theory and journalism studies can be seen to open up debate about the possibilities for meaningful change in mainstream multicultural journalism. Concepts of access, dialogue and deliberation are now central to journalism criticism as scholars seek ways of making journalism more publicly accountable or, perhaps more specifically, of persuading journalists to talk to their critics, including the marginalised communities they report about but rarely interact with. In addition, the emergence of alternative Internet-based news providers has increased the circulation of ideas about content co-creation, online interactivity and media innovation for social justice, raising public expectations about the flexibility of journalistic practices in relation to the reporting of social and cultural inequalities. These developments can be interpreted to indicate renewed interest in, and aspirations for mainstream journalism. I argue they need to be extended and supported by development of a framework or theory of journalism criticism. James Carey’s (1974) seminal argument that criticism and democracy are ‘indissolubly connected’ has stimulated extensive work on discursive models of press criticism. Wendy Wyatt (2007) offers a compelling recent example that draws on the theory of communicative action in developing suggested procedures, venues and agendas of criticism aimed at democratic engagement between journalists, critics and the public. Where Wyatt acknowledges the need for journalists ‘to talk less and listen more’ (Anderson, Dardenne & Killenberg 1996), Kate Lacey’s (2009) work on democracy and ‘listening publics’ more fully addresses this theme by posing listening as ‘inescapably political’, that is, as a neglected critical communicative practice that should be seen as intrinsic to the normative ideal of freedom of expression. Crucially, in my view, Lacey’s model of political listening interprets the ‘refusal to listen’ as censorship, a move that provocatively inverts and, thus, challenges journalism’s long-held claim that criticism opens the way to press regulation, censorship and silencing. This is clever thinking because it links listening practices to journalism’s vital interests (free speech) and radical traditions, providing a much-needed rationale for journalists to engage their critics. Attention to journalism criticism thus provides a means for better understanding the capacity to listen in journalism and, by extension, the possibilities for press reform based on achieving a more open hearing for press critics and their recommendations for improving multicultural reporting.