Harris speaks on dangers to democracy
By SHEILA FLYNN
News Writer
Jay T. Harris, who sparked a national journalistic debate when he resigned as publisher of the San Jose Mercury News in 2001 on ethical principles, said Tuesday that the American experiment of democracy is in danger of disintegration.
"It has come to my attention that fewer people than I would think have a clear understanding of what the framers were trying to do," said Harris, the 2002-03 John W. Gallivan Journalist in Residence at the University of Notre Dame.
In his lecture entitled "Journalism, Democracy and the `American Experiment,'" Harris traced the development of America's democratic republic since its conception, citing observations about democracy and journalism by politicians and philosophers throughout its history.
"It's sad to say both are less vital than they have been in the past," Harris said.
Harris said the decline in citizen participation in government and highlighted this passivity as a threat to true democracy.
"Being a good citizen is more a matter of collective responsibility than it is a matter of individual rights," Harris said. "Citizenship is about responsibility — having more than a passing familiarity of the issues of the day."
Phrases such as "the common good" have been forgotten, Harris said, and need to be brought back into focus in order for democracy to exist as the institution that the Framers of the Constitution originally intended. Journalism, he said, is a tool that can be used to revamp the government.
"Journalism is not responsible for this state of affairs," Harris said of the media's influence on political and social life in America. "But it is certainly the case that journalism has contributed to the lack of understanding and acceptance."
When citizens are not serious about the government, Harris said, it becomes difficult for the press to focus on weighty issues because the audience is not receptive.
Harris said this precarious situation is fixable, however, invoking the words of Jim Cary of the Columbia school of Journalism: "The American experiment is still in the lab. There is no nobler task for our generation than to move it along."
"`Move it along' means getting it back on track," Harris said. "The pendulum has gone about as far as it can in one direction without it starting to swing back."
Addressing the aspiring journalists in the audience, Harris said the future of journalism lies in their hands.
"Much depends on the decisions you make — the course you let journalism take," he said.
"I think you need to all be prepared to make the argument against the argument in the marketplace."
Harris serves as the Robert C. Maynard Fellow in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California-Berkeley and was recently named Annenberg Professor of Journalism and Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California.
All News Stories for Wednesday, October 9, 2002
