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THE ROLE OF JOURNALISTS
The role of journalists in British society has been altered somewhat in the public perception in recent years due to the decline in standards witnessed in many newspapers, particularly in the popular or tabloid press.
Up to 20 years ago traditional views would hold that journalists would be generally conservative and that they would stay within the bounds of observed good taste.
However, the nature of tabloid journalism has changed that. The introduction of a highly-charged marketing war between major publishers - in particular involving the titles of News International which owns five national newspapers - the Sun, the News of the World, the Times, the Sunday Times and Today — has led to an increase in sensationalism and unethical activity.
Major items of news have been fabricated while the practice of paying individuals, including criminals, for exclusive rights to their stories has been widely criticized.
THE FOURTH ESTATE
The term “fourth estate” used to describe the press. Describing journalists and the news outlets for which they work as members of the fourth estate is an acknowledgment of their influence and status among the greatest powers of a nation, as the author William Safire once wrote.
Use of the term fourth estate to describe the modern media, though, is somewhat outdated unless it is with irony given the public's mistrust of journalists and news coverage in general. Fewer than a third of news consumers say they trust the media, according to the Gallup organization.
"Before 2004, it was common for a majority of Americans to profess at least some trust in the mass media, but since then, less than half of Americans feel that way. Now, only about a third of the U.S. has any trust in the Fourth Estate, a stunning development for an institution designed to inform the public," Gallup wrote in 2016.
"The phrase lost its vividness as the other 'estates' faded from memory, and now has a musty and stilted connotation," wrote Safire, a former New York Times columnist. "In current use 'the press' usually carries with it the aura of 'freedom of the press' enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, while press critics usually label it, with a sneer, 'the media.'"
ORIGINS OF FOURTH ESTATE
The term fourth estate is often attributed to British politician Edmund Burke. Thomas Carlyle, writing in Heroes and Hero-Worship in History: "Burke said that there were three Estates in Parliament, but in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a fourth Estate more important far than them all".
The Oxford English Dictionary attributes the term fourth estate to Lord Brougham in 1823. Other attributed it to English essayist William Hazlitt. In England the three estates preceding the fourth estate were the king, the clergy and the commoners.
In the United States the term fourth estate is sometimes used to place the press alongside the three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. The fourth estate refers to the watchdog role of the press, one that is important to a functioning democracy.
THE ROLE OF THE FOURTH ESTATE
The First Amendment to the Constitution "frees" the press but carries with it a responsibility to be the people's watchdog. However, the traditional newspaper is threatened by shrinking readership. Television is focused on entertainment, even when it dresses it up as "news." Radio is threatened by satellites. All are confronted with the frictionless distribution enabled by the Internet, the disruptive effects of digital information. None have figured out a business model that pays for content at today's rates.
Bloggers may be great at filtering and framing information, but few have the time or resources to perform acts of investigative journalism.