In a recent article in the U.S. magazine Columbia Journalism Review, the author Alissa Quart discussed the changing nature of photojournalism.

The Romanian senate passed a law last week requiring the media to provide their audiences with 50 percent positive news. The bill’s creators say the law will help fight the harms of negative news and its effects on people’s lives.

It is no secret that traditional media outlets are being threatened by the rise of citizen journalism. A close look at citizen journalism reveals that much of it is specific to a target or local audience, sometimes called hyperlocal news.

In the aftermath of the recent earthquake in China, many radio reports coming out of Sichuan province featured journalists who were outwardly distraught and emotional; National Public Radio reporters Robert Siegel and Melissa Block, from the U.S., admitted they got “choked up” and even cried on air, which they said made their coverage of the devastation more real.

The U.S. television network, NBC, airs a program aimed at identifying and detaining child sex abusers. On 'To Catch a Predator,' decoys log into chatrooms and identify themselves as minors, while NBC cameras are sent to catch the offender. Recently, Iranian TV partnered with police to apply similar techniques to identify drivers who abuse females on the street.

Unlike in printed newspapers or magazines, most online news sites provide readers a forum in which to comment, ask questions, correct factual errors, or even criticize a journalist’s take on an issue.

Currently, a law is being considered by the United States Congress that would protect journalists from prosecution if they refuse to reveal their sources. 

But many feel that if passed, the law – known as the “Federal Shield Law” – would limit the definition of a journalist and exclude many in the reporting profession, such as bloggers, from protection.

Recently, the secretary of the Israel Press Council Avi Weinberg spoke out against threats from Israeli officials to boycott the Arab news network al-Jazeera, arguing governments should not limit journalists “even if their reports are not to the liking of some cabinet members.” Journalism is, by its very nature, “an opposition to the government,” Weinberg says.

Many developing nations struggling for democracy and good governance do not support freedom of the press. For instance, while democratic elections are being held in countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Russia, the media in these countries is often restricted or controlled by government censorship, begging the question: How democratic are they really?

Does free media equal good governance? Can an “honest” election occur without press freedom? Do the media play a role in good governance?