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The Sacred Side of Professional Journalism 159

and forties’. As the idea of public service has definitely not been abandoned,
however, a proper reading of this observation seems to be that professionalism
and a redefined idea of public service are not only compatible, but mutually
supportive. According to Rosengren et al. (1991: 70) there is indeed ‘some reason
to believe that public service broadcasting is conducive to professional quality in
programming’. 7
Although newspeople fall short on some of the previously listed professional
requirements, they satisfy other important ones, especially the one referring to
the service of vital needs. In accordance with this, the public has begun treating
mass communicators with veneration and trust which closely resembles that
bestowed on ministers and doctors and their paraphernalia. This veneration, in
all three cases, as it rises or recedes, can be understood with reference to the con-
cept of sacredness as it is defined by Durkheim. Such an understanding empha-
8
sizes the integrative role of the mass media. If we want to carry the analogy with
traditional religion further it must be recognized that we do not construct
temples, comparable to cathedrals and hospitals, for the public worship of the
mass media; we do, however, dedicate one corner – or even a whole room – in
every one of hundreds of millions of homes to the TV set and we gather in front
of it daily, in a ritualistic manner, in order to reaffirm and update our picture of
the world. The particular time which is devoted to news on television may even
be referred to as ‘a sacred hour’, distinct from other parts of the daily pro-
gramme which, not being as relevant to our continued existence, may be treated
less reverently. When the news slot is desecrated by the news reporters them-
selves, as occasionally happens, for example, with so-called news recreations,
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there is no lack of indignant responses and even outrage. This is comparable to
public reactions to sinning priests and malpractising doctors.
Newspeople, much like priests and doctors, must put up with long and irreg-
ular working hours and their work never leaves them (Broddason et al., 1987).
That their work can be extremely hazardous is manifested in the fate of journal-
ists who have paid with their lives for their efforts to expose corrupt or tyranni-
cal conditions. 10 Thus, there seems little doubt that many journalists provide
‘altrustic service’ and even reveal a nobleness of self-sacrifice. However, it is
acknowledged that under authoritarian or tyrannical conditions there is no
shortage of journalists who run the errands of the rulers. Clearly, they do not
meet the standards of professionalism, no more in fact than doctors, judges or
clergy who abuse their calling by turning their knowledge and power to the
service of despots.
If our salvation in the here-after is one of the chief concerns of the clergy, and
our health and longevity in the temporal sense is the preoccupation of the
doctors, and the success of these professions in their respective fields explains
their elevated status, what then lies at the bottom of the trust and veneration
afforded journalists? I have already mentioned their role as identifiers and medi-
ators of vital information for the democratic process. Taking this point to its
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logical conclusion, it could be argued that respect for mass communicators rests
on the belief that they are key agents in averting the imminent environmental
disaster brought upon us by the very scientific progress that was supposed to
solve all our problems.