That inf rastructure has provided technical and financial support for a range of initiatives, everything from arranging townhall meetings to devising ways of making public officials, including politicians, more accountable to the people they serve. As is to be exp ected in any new endeavors, the results have been mixed. The Idea of Public Journalism is the latest contribution to this growing body of work. In market model journalism, journalists should seek to please audiences or, at least, those audiences that advertisers find attractive. Whatever these advertiser-friendly audiences demand, they should receive.
Consumer demand is the ultimate arbite r of the news product.
Market model journalism is anathema to journalists themselves. They may repair to in apology for what they do, to explain why their best efforts are often thwarted, but they never refer to it as an ideal or aspiration. It is the model of the busine ss office, not the newsroom. In advocacy model journalism, journalism should provide news from the perspective of a political party. The aim of news gathering is to advance the party.