How journalists can do their crucial job in the next 100 days; Washington Post, 7/31/16

Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post; How journalists can do their crucial job in the next 100 days:

"How should the media recalculate in the months before Nov. 8, especially given the sharp divisions in the country?

We should remind ourselves of the fundamentals: Journalists’ most important role is giving Americans the information they need to cast their vote. And a lot of potential voters — about 11 percent — still haven’t decided, many of them not happy with either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

“We are supposed to help citizens participate in democracy,” said Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute and the co-author, with Bill Kovach, of “The Elements of Journalism” and “Blur.” What journalists should not be doing, he told me, is “being part of the team,” on either side.

Whatever one thinks of the concept of journalistic objectivity — some think it’s dated and counterproductive — what’s really important is independence."