They are probably professionals themselves, or have become professionalized in their viewpoint over time because we have trained them to our viewpoint. Here are some differences that other people may have with professional people in thinking about what makes work, like journalism, excellent and serviceable. The competent like their competency and would rather defend it than open themselves up to a critique that suggests they need to supplement their skills or change some of their practices competence must be tempered by openness, or by being vulnerable to the ideas and experiences of others. In this context, vulnerability means being open to the point of risking something of yourself. And distribution matters only if it truly engages people, gets them to actively grapple with the information.
Journalism serves democracy.
End of discussion. If we assume a model of democracy built around voting, then we produce journalism that serves voting. If we conceive of democracy as active participation of citizens in daily governance, then we produce journalism that serves that participation. That's worth thinking about. Nearly 50 years of what he got right and wrong.