ABSTRACT. In this paper I am particularly interested in exploring the role of journalism in democracy, the ubiquity of social media, the idea of new media as a political force, and the complexity and importance of journalistic excellence. The paper aims to analyze and discuss the economic pressures on the news media, the pervasive degradation of news by entertainment values, the explosive growth of social network sites, and the need of democracies for journalistic excellence. pp. 145–153
JEL Classification: D83, L82, O14

Keywords: journalism, democracy, news media, social network