“Democracy dies in darkness.” – Journalism Matters Week 2024
The NCTJ is standing alongside the industry in celebrating Journalism Matters Week 2024.
From 28 October to 3 November, the News Media Association’s annual campaign highlights the vital role trusted news media journalism plays in our democratic society.
Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, offered his thoughts on the role of professional journalism in the latest edition of the NCTJ’s journalism careers guide.
Read below:
Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator, Financial Times.
“Representative democracy grew up with newspapers and then with radio, television and now social media. All these are ways of informing the public on what is happening in the world and, above all, of telling them of what is happening in public life.
“Without reliable information, people cannot be informed. Without informed voters, democratic politics is no more than a cacophony of falsehoods. Such journalism has always been important. But it is especially important now, when powerful anti-democratic forces are at work within our societies and across the world.
“Yet the knowledge needed by the public does not arrive by magic. It is the result of the efforts of experienced, competent and honest journalists. Commercial interests, partisanship and simple coercion conspire against them. Nevertheless, at their best, journalists – reporters, columnists and editors – deliver what is needed to make free societies work. Without their efforts, we are left only with propaganda or ignorance.
“Never forget that good journalism is the product of dedicated, brave and conscientious people; reporters who care whether what they write is true, journalists who check sources, sub-editors who insist on clarity, editors who know what needs to be published and opinion writers who care about getting their arguments right.
“Honest journalism makes our societies work. This is why attempts to suppress or even kill journalists is the universal mark of tyrants.
“Democracy dies in darkness. It is the job of journalists to shed the light.”
