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A journalist is an objective intermediary between an infinite amount of information that could possibly be news', and society. The role of a journalist is to select and compile relevant information in an interesting and objective format for a public audience of readers, listeners or viewers. This is a process of creating, according to former publisher of the Washington Post Philip L Graham, a first rough draft of a history'.

Journalists must select relevant news items for their audience; in this capacity they are, the people who filter information for society, who help people separate the wheat from the chaff'. As well as these roles, a journalist must maintain integrity and filter information with minimal personal prejudice and bias. What separates a journalist from other disseminators of information, such as advertisers and propagandists, is their commitment to accuracy and objectivity.

The entirety of Philip L Graham's definition states that news is a, rough draft of history that will never be completed about a world we can never understand'. He states and the journalist's role is an, inescapably impossible task'. There are many obstacles between a journalist and the truth they seek to report. These include access to information; spin and mistruths circulated by politicians and public relations agencies; as well as a journalist's own ideologies and prejudices. Therefore, there is an unwritten code of conduct inherent in the journalist's discipline which aims to fulfill this impossible task as best as possible.

The Society of Professional Journalists, established in 1909, describes these additional responsibilities for journalists in its code of ethics. A Journalist should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.' They should aim to minimise harm' and treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect.' Objectivity is described as being free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know' and being accountable to readers, listeners, viewers and each other'. Anything that significantly deviates from these principles is not deserving of the term journalism; it becomes opinion, advertising or propaganda. These idealistic principles form from the conviction that journalist' is not merely a job description, but an essential agent in a functioning democracy.

An objective and free' media is seen by many as a public right which allows citizens to make informed and legitimate democratic

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