By Matthew Harwood
Columbia Journalism Review
http://www.cjr. org/behind_ the_news/ world_of_ paine.php
June 12, 2009
Two hundred years ago this week, the radical journalist
and pamphleteer Thomas Paine died an ignominious death.
But during his life, Paine was renowned as the
philosophical architect of the American Revolution, a
true democratic populist who voiced ideas that are
still considered dangerous. Common people can govern
themselves justly and democractically. Liberty should
not be forsaken for security. Both of these principles
must guide our foreign relations.
In many ways the forefather of modern advocacy
journalism, Paine is largely unrecognized as such
today. Still, those modern writers hoping to change the
world with their words could profit from Paine's
example; for in his time, Paine made people believe
they could "begin the world over again"-and they did.
Armed with his democratic principles, an adversarial
idea of what free expression meant, and a pen poised
like a dagger, Paine took aim at everything sacred in
his era: monarchy, aristocracy, and revealed religion.
Common Sense had the temerity to argue that the
American colonies needed no king and could establish a
republican government to govern itself. The Rights of
Man went further, defending any people's natural right
to overthrow hereditary government when it was not
responsive to their needs and interests -- which,
according to Paine, was all the time. And while The Age
of Reason, a withering attack on revealed religion,
earned Paine his exile from America's founding
pantheon, its logic is one that still guides the best
journalism: "When opinions are free, either in matters
of govemment or religion, truth will finally and
powerfully prevail."
Advancing the stories and ideas that challenge the
powerful in order to protect the common good, Paine's
work embodied the best journalistic principles; in many
ways, he was the prototypical crusading journalist.
Many these days are arguing that "crusading journalism"
is the sort of journalism that we need the most, the
sort of journalism that is most likely to succeed in
these dire times of torture, terror, and financial
turpitude. Slate's Jack Shafer even argues for a return
to "yellow journalism" -- not of sensationalism, but of
passion.
Yet despite all Paine did for letters, it's disturbing
to note how few of today's journalists have heralded
his life or his contribution to the craft.
One reason is that many modern reporters tend to forget
that the modern press is ultimately a creation that
favors a particular political system: democratic
government responsive to its citizens' desires.
Concepts as "equal time" and "objectivity" taken to
illogical extremes, along with the profession's
integration into the country's elite, have led many
journalists to play it safe with routine, easy work
that rarely challenges the powerful. (Take The New York
Times's recent prostration before the Pentagon's study
on Guantanamo recidivism, for example.) Paine
understood that the powerful lie to retain their power,
and he excoriated them for doing so.
Professional journalism's recent struggles have much to
do with the Internet, innovation, and economics; but
the profession is also suffering because the mainstream
media have largely forsaken the hard, investigative
pieces that make enemies of the powerful. But while
Paine's spirit is in short supply throughout many
newsrooms today, there is one infinite space where it
flourishes: the Internet. Wired's Jon Katz understood
this more than a decade ago:
[Paine's] mark is now nearly invisible in the old
culture, but his spirit is woven through and through
this new one, his fingerprints on every Web site,
his voice in every online thread. If the old media
(newspapers, magazines, radio, and television) have
abandoned their father, the new media (computers,
cable, and the Internet) can and should adopt him.
If the press has lost contact with its spiritual and
ideological roots, the new media culture can claim
them as its own.
If Thomas Paine were alive today, there's little doubt
you would find him blogging from www.commonsense. org,
challenging concentrated power, conspicuous wealth, and
a culture amusing itself to death. Paine would likely
have cherished the chance to engage his readers in
debate, and spur them to direct action for better
government and a more equitable economy. When people
pick up a newspaper or view it online, they need to
feel that the multitude of voices within are devoted to
them: a democratic people determined to stay that way.
One man, with one voice, did that for the American
colonies -- and it changed the world.
No matter what form journalism takes in the coming
years, it will only remain relevant if it follows
Paine's example and treats people like citizens worthy
of serious conversations. The profession forgets this
at its own peril. Or, as Paine would say: "Character is
much easier kept than recovered."
