ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author considers the functions journalists perform in a representative democracy and the instrumental reasons they therefore have to avoid causing unnecessary offence. He examines the grounds for holding that justice demands that journalists acting in their public role refrain from giving predictable offence, and outlines the kinds of overriding reasons that would justify an exception. Related to the function of informing the public is the critical role journalists play in helping people to coalesce around a shared news agenda by selecting and pursuing only some stories, and then imposing an order of priority on them when they are presented to the people. The author distinguishes between what journalists are allowed to do as private citizens and what they are allowed to do when occupying their public persona. If people demand total personal commitment to impartiality from journalists, then they are asking to be lied to, and denying them their civil right to free speech.
