"The Boston Globe, the LA
Times-institutions that you never thought would leave are leaving. The
newspaper on the driveway is disappearing," Matthews said, in reference
to the financial troubles that are threatening many major newspapers.
"A blogger can get up in the morning, be living with his parents, ask
them for pancakes, and then blog about the president," he quipped,
implying that blogging, by democratizing access to the influence that
newspaper and television reporters once took for granted, is part of
the threat facing newspapers.

Dukakis, however, did not give bloggers much credit.

"Without
dismissing the bloggers and the Limbaughs," he said, referring to Rush
Limbaugh, the right-wing radio pundit, "I have to tell you that they
don't really play a large part. If I were in office today, I wouldn't
pay attention to the bloggers or any of these characters, but if
someone like a Janet Wu said something, I would take it seriously."

But
Wu countered that many journalists are themselves paying attention to
blogs, because "you don't know what nugget of information your
competitors will pick up from the bloggers."

"I would argue
the profit incentive has changed the landscape," she said. "The
business is so profit driven these days compared to what it was 20 or
30 years ago," and, for this reason, she said, the competition to
uncover new stories is much more intense.

Matthews implied that,
while bloggers and the internet have challenged the newspapers'
business model, the problems facing newspapers stem from the fact that
the pursuit of journalism and the pursuit of profit are not compatible.

"There's
no money in print journalism, so nobody would go into it for the money.
I question the premise that someone would start a newspaper to make
money," he argued. Nevertheless, he said of print journalists that
"it's unbelievable how good they are. Their ability to get a story and
get it right on deadline is amazing."

With the fate of
traditional newspapers very much undecided-indeed, none of the speakers
confessed to knowing quite what newspapers should do to reverse their
downward spiral-Matthews concluded the discussion with a dire warning.
"There will come to a time," he said, "when we don't know what the
facts are. We watched Hitler rise to power, but at least we had
reporters there to tell us what was happening, that he was taking over
other countries."

The speakers and audience developed an easy
rapport, with audience members occasionally shouting questions or
comments to the speakers, and Matthews spontaneously polling the
audience whenever he, Wu, or Dukakis disagreed with one another. At one
point, he exhorted those students in the audience pursuing a career in
politics to stand up-and then exhorted those who did not stand to
promise themselves that, lacking the courage to stand, they would never
pursue a career in politics.

Dukakis, perhaps dismayed that only
one in ten or so students heeded Matthews' demand, spoke glowingly of
public service, recalling of his thirty-year political career that "I
never remember coming home in the evening and not feeling as thought I
had made some kind of difference." He added that "there is nothing more
personally fulfilling than being in a position where you can make
improvements in the lives of your fellow citizens."

But Wu
rejoined that "I would never encourage my children to run for office,"
because, she explained, "I know how brutal we can be."

"Every morning I get up, I still ask myself, is it fair for me to do this story?" she said.

Her concern was echoed by the questions several students posed during the question-and-answer session.

"It
becomes a slippery slope when we want to get a job with Obama, and they
want every blog comment we've ever made. Where is the line between
what's fair and legitimate and what's unnecessary information?" one
student asked.

"This may seem tough," Dukakis responded, "but
one thing I try to help my students understand is that if you put it in
writing, assume its going to be on the front page of the local paper."
Dukakis teaches at Northeastern University in Boston.

"There are
ways of dealing with these issues," Wu said, referring to how
politicians should handle "unnecessary information" that might be
leaked anyway. "Too many politicians try very hard thinking it will go
away and no one will ever find out."

"There are people out there without any kind of judgment, Matthews explained. "If they get it, they'll run it," he said.

The
forum-titled the Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism, in
honor of pioneering broadcast journalist Edward Murrow-was sponsored by
a variety of Tufts University departments and programs, including the
Communications and Media Studies Program and the Jonathan M. Tisch
College of Citizenship and Public Service. Past speakers have included
Ted Koppel, Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw.