In this year's series as a whole, we hope that our lecturers will share their thoughts with us on such subjects as the impediments, if any, that democratic life and politics might impose on journalists striving to do their duty. To what extent is journalism a phenomenon of the "market," and does the management of news organizations encroach on the integrity of the story as it reaches the public? Is there, can there be, and should there be such a thing as a value-free journalist? How is the tension in the journalist's mind between discretion, sentiment, verity, and law-abidingness to be resolved in the best interest of democracy and with fidelity to the journalist's professional commitment?