Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie gave a speech Tuesday at the University of Kentucky. It's very much worth a read.

It's posted at poynter.org. Some excerpts:

Newspapers in Chicago and Atlanta uncovered waste, mismanagement and fraud in their local governments, which prompted much-needed changes.

The New York Times revealed that some major railroad companies were avoiding responsibility for grade crossing fatalities by destroying or losing evidence and failing to report hundreds of accidents.

The Washington Post found that the local water agency was covering up widespread lead contamination of the city's water supply. Our reporting eventually forced the agency to add a chemical to the water that reduced the lead content and to replace miles of lead-lined water pipes throughout the city.

These are all examples of accountability journalism -- news reporting that holds those with power and influence in our society accountable to the rest of us. This is perhaps the highest responsibility of the press in our democratic society.

It is relevant journalism. It is journalism that matters.

He then goes on to say this:

Just 22 companies now own daily newspapers with 70 per cent of the circulation in the United States. And only 10 companies own local television stations reaching 85 per cent of the U.S. population.

The message coming down from corporate headquarters of too many of these companies has been that improvements in the bottom lines of their newspapers and television stations are more important than improvements in their journalism.

Cutting news coverage costs at newspapers has meant reducing the number of journalists and the amount of space for news in those papers. And it has often meant less news from the state capital, from Washington and from the rest of the world -- at a time when what goes on in all those places affects all of our lives more than ever before.

That fact that cutting costs in this way can actually make a newspaper less appealing and important to readers seems not to have occurred to many corporate managers.

Downie closes with this:

The fate of good journalism -- the fate of the 'mainstream media' I've been talking about today -- will be a leading indicator of the future health of American society. If new generations of Americans are indifferent to good journalism, it cannot thrive.

The benefits of good journalism are not hypothetical. If those with power in society are not held accountable for the way they use their power, they will misuse it. If communities cannot learn what they need to know about themselves, they will be less vibrant and successful.

News is part of the American culture. The United States will be a better place if its citizens can get from the news what they need to know to govern themselves effectively and improve their lives.

Good journalism is relevant to our of all lives. Good journalism makes a difference.

Here's the link again:
http://poynter.org/forum/?id=misc