Journalism and power: the importance of the institution

The journalist John Lloyd has written extensively about the relationship between journalism and power. It’s at the heart of a book I am writing, so I asked John to send me a summary of his views that I had heard him express at a conference a couple of years ago. The idea that interested me sounds obvious, but is not often set out. Journalism is powerful mainly because it organises itself into professional institutions. This gives the individual journalist, or act of journalism, support and resource. If you lose those institutions (for example if we all turned into bloggers!) do you lose the journalism? Here’s John’s view in full that he was kind enough to send me and that I will quote in part in the book.