Journalism is battling for its existence – worldwide. The economic crisis has aggravated this tendency. Many US editorial offices with a long-standing tradition had to close down, among them ‘Tucson Citizen’ and ‘Cincinnati Post‘. Free online papers are generally held liable for this situation and considered the ones to profit from the crisis. Industry giants like Murdoch’s ‘News Corp’ or German ‘Axel Springer Verlag’ publishing house are now wondering how to adapt their business models to continue making money in the online world. An article on the book ‘Entzauberung eines Berufs’ (Disenchantment of a profession) at the online portal ‘PR-Portal’ introduces a new facet to the discussion which has not been taken into consideration yet. The subtitle of the study conducted by communication researcher Wolfgang Donsbach from Dresden can be translated as ‘What Germans expect from journalism and how their hopes are being deceived’ and alludes that declining sales figures and a fluctuation in the number of readers have to have other reasons besides free papers on the Internet.

In the past it used to be the journalists themselves who distrusted economy, politics or public relations. And without any doubt, a certain degree of scepticism is one of the tools of the trade of every reliable reporter as a representative of the ‘fourth power’. The significance of serious, free, and independent journalism becomes especially evident when freedom of press is violated. Journalists are the eyes, ears, and voice of citizens in a democratic society; they bring light to the dark sides of a system and step up to claim change or moral integrity. Prerequisites for a healthy journalism are holding fast to professional ethics and trustworthiness. And according to Donsbach’s survey, this seems to be the problem nowadays. Only 35 per cent of Germans stated that they trust journalists. Donsbach concludes that we are not only facing disenchantment with politics but with journalism in society, too.

But where does this massive loss of confidence come from? PR-Portal states multiple reasons. A basic problem seems to be that the majority of citizens think that editors can be bought or exceedingly represent the interests of advertising customers. Another weak point is the quality of the contributions. ‘More objectiveness instead of yellow press’ is the claim here. In addition, participants of the study missed ethics and integrity in the reporting of journalists. As an example, the way that war victims were portrayed was criticized along with the high degree of power and influence that the public thinks journalists to have.

In the article at PR-Portal, Donsbach continues to explain that another reason for the present crisis of confidence is that the population tends to lack a clear notion of the nature of journalism. This problem includes that the line between journalism and public relations is becoming increasingly blurred – a fact that is fostered by the Internet. And by revisiting the ‘culprits’ online media and PR, we have come full circle again. However, it is definitely not the task of journalism to make the new media world play according to its own rules. The conclusion of the study is rather that classic media may be well advised to remember its own basic values and lay stress upon its qualities. This could help online journalism to improve its standard and in the long run to win back the readers’ trust. Not to mention the fact that ambitious journalists press for elevated standards in public relations, too.

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