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A look at two books which present 'an indictment of a television system generally regarded as the best in the world'

The concern is with the ongoing debate in the US over what constitutes responsible professional practice. In journalism, this debate revolves around objectivity, detachment vs advocacy, O vs watchdog functions. 2 diff sets of belief systems concerning the functions of the media & the role of the journalist ("neutral" & "participant") are described & their antecedents & correlates are analyzed. Data from a survey among a nat'l probability sample of 1,313 Amer journalists, collected by the Nat'l Opinion Res Center, are used. The importance journalists attach to various media functions, the extent to which their conceptions of the media fit with "neutral" & "participant" images of journalism, & the professional & soc characteristics of those oriented to diff conceptions of journalistic responsibility were studied. A multivariate analysis of the evidence shows that journalists can clearly be classified along the 2 diff sets of belief systems, although there are overlaps. Educ & training may be the primary influence on which belief system a journalist adopts. The 2 camps are also org'ed along ecological lines, with one functioning primarily within the Ur environment, & the other in smaller communities. These contexts both stimulate & reinforce the 2 sets of values. Interpreting the segmentation primarily as general conflict is considered inadequate. 3 Tables, 1 Figure. M. Maxfield.

Q analysis shows that among newsmen desk-bound editors are least able to predict subscriber preferences; but on the whole newsmen and readers show high agreement in their preferences.