March 3, 2012
Why I study journalism and criticize it and try to make it better when I can figure out how. The reason is there in this quote from Thinking the Twentieth Century, by Tony Judt with Timothy Snyder. (Penguin Books, 2012)  Democracies corrode quite fast; they corrode linguistically, or rhetorically if you like— that’s the Orwellian point about language. They corrode because most people don’t care about them. Notice that the European Union, whose first parliamentary elections were held in 1979 and had an average turnout of over 62 percent, is now looking at turnout of less than 30 percent, even though the European Parliament matters more now and has more power. The difficulty of sustaining voluntary interest in the business of choosing the people who will rule over you is well attested. And the reason why we need intellectuals, as well as all the good journalists we can find, is to fill the space that grows between the two parts of democracy: the governed and the governors.  Tony Judt, who lived upstairs from me, was one of the great students of the West, and did as much as anyone I know to warn of the corrosives of his time. He was probably the most serious person I have ever met. Judt died prematurely of Lou Gehrig’s Disease in 2010. Read this brilliant and impossibly moving essay about his last years by his wife, Jennifer Homans: Tony Judt, a Final Victory.

Why I study journalism and criticize it and try to make it better when I can figure out how.

The reason is there in this quote from Thinking the Twentieth Century, by Tony Judt with Timothy Snyder. (Penguin Books, 2012) 

Democracies corrode quite fast; they corrode linguistically, or rhetorically if you like— that’s the Orwellian point about language. They corrode because most people don’t care about them. Notice that the European Union, whose first parliamentary elections were held in 1979 and had an average turnout of over 62 percent, is now looking at turnout of less than 30 percent, even though the European Parliament matters more now and has more power. The difficulty of sustaining voluntary interest in the business of choosing the people who will rule over you is well attested. And the reason why we need intellectuals, as well as all the good journalists we can find, is to fill the space that grows between the two parts of democracy: the governed and the governors. 

Tony Judt, who lived upstairs from me, was one of the great students of the West, and did as much as anyone I know to warn of the corrosives of his time. He was probably the most serious person I have ever met. Judt died prematurely of Lou Gehrig’s Disease in 2010.

Read this brilliant and impossibly moving essay about his last years by his wife, Jennifer Homans: Tony Judt, a Final Victory.

6:19pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZdoMYyHQ168S
(View comments) 
(Notes: 40)
  
  1. sittinghereinbluejayway reblogged this from jayrosen
  2. claresta-carter reblogged this from navigatingmedia
  3. book20 reblogged this from jayrosen
  4. senzamegafono reblogged this from jayrosen
  5. shopro reblogged this from jayrosen
  6. liliasiriusun reblogged this from jayrosen
  7. shaoyu reblogged this from jayrosen
  8. variation reblogged this from jayrosen
  9. brianhalligan reblogged this from jayrosen
  10. navigatingmedia reblogged this from jcstearns and added:
    So well said. So agree.
  11. jcstearns reblogged this from jayrosen and added:
    Thanks Jay, for passing along this quote and introducing me to Judt. This really speaks to why I work on media policy...
  12. battleblogs reblogged this from jayrosen and added:
    jayrosen | Why I study journalism and criticize it and try to make it better when I can figure out how. The reason is...
  13. This was featured in #Long Reads
  14. jayrosen posted this
Blog comments powered by Disqus