ABSTRACT
In Chapter One five possible functions of journalism were suggested: 1. Map-making. 2. Ranking. 3. Focusing. 4. Summarizing. 5. Direct participation. In any attempt to analyse even the role which journalists play in politics — quite apart from the more ambitious task of estimating their power — these very functions pose special difficulties. The map-making function of journalists ensures that our maps of the political world are largely drawn from material supplied to us by journalists; on these maps the journalists place the men, issues, and events in relation to which their power and influence (if any) is exerted. They rank politicians; journalists focus our attention—especially perhaps on specific ‘crises’; they summarize Parliamentary debates, complex policy documents, and speeches. But by their direct participation — at least in the Westminster system — they to some extent deliberately conceal.
