A new report from the Carnegie Corporation of New York suggests that the job of the journalist, like that of teachers or librarians, "is vital to the preservation of American democracy," and offers a series of recommendations designed to ensure the future of journalism as both an ethical profession and a viable business.

Issued in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the report, Journalism's Crisis of Confidence: A Challenge for the Next Generation, is based on a recent day-long dialogue involving the deans of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California; the director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government; representatives from several new journalism schools; and top editors, publishers, news executives, and journalists. Their insights about journalism education, media trends, innovation and ethics in journalism, America's changing news habits, and standards for "new" forms of journalism such as blogging inform and enliven the report.

According to Nicholas Lemann, dean of Columbia's journalism school, the enthusiasm of young journalists and their desire to meet the highest standards of the profession make this an especially exciting time for journalism, one that holds the promise of renewed vigor for reporting and dedication to the craft. The students who comprise the next generation of reporters, said Lemann, "want to report on things that matter."

To read or download the complete report (84 pages, PDF), visit: http://www.carnegie.org/pdf/journalism_crisis/
journ_crisis_full.pdf.