Contemporary journalism's most appropriate cultural role is to stimulate and legitimize dialogue about public controversy. To do so, say these authors, it should redefine itself as a forum for disciplined and informed conversation.

Arguing in the first book-length exploration of a conversational and dialogic model for journalism that accurately reporting the news is a surprisingly limiting if not disabling mission, the authors draw optimistically on past strengths of the media, especially print journalism, to reform and redefine a more ecumenical, constructive, participative, and democratically responsive role for journalism's institutional future. The book's scope is wide, and it includes many current trends: minority voices, contextualizing the news, providing interactive community forums, reconciling informational and entertainment functions, creating public opinion, and understanding the nature of bias.