The Role of Reporters, Academics, and Practitioners. Our goal for the day was straightforward, albeit ambitious. Ultimately, we hoped to encourage public servants, academics, and journalists, in their respective positions, to examine the missions of government, the way agencies go about carrying out those missions, and their effectiveness in doing so. The press plays a vital role informing the public about the actions of government, and keeping government honest, fair, and effective. When the media ask informed questions, probing how effectively and appropriately government is acting, it can introduce incentives for government organizations to perform more effectively.
Academics can also play an important role helping journalists understand the questions to ask.
By studying government activities more carefully than the attention span of the press generally allows, academia can provide the press with insights about what government is doing well and what it is doing poorly. Government, too, can contribute to or detract from the ability of journalists to report to citizens. Many laws attempt to make government more transparent by mandating public reporting. Unfortunately, few government officials understand how to tell their story because they don t know how to or decide it is not worth the effort because of a perceived journalistic bias toward scandal and negative reporting. Those in government who do understand how to sell a story to the press have a particular message they are selling, and it may not be the only story the public needs to know.