Washington Post columnist David S. Broder lamented the transformation of journalists from fact-seekers into "character cops" in the annual Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics delivered last night at the Institute of Politics (IOP).

The speech, entitled "Who are we? What are we doing here?" grappled with the definition of journalism in the age of television and visual media.

"There has been a shift in reliance from the printed word, to that shown on the screen," Broder said.

He said reporting today has become "about as much how to package a story as looking for facts."

According to Broder, this change, coupled with the busier lives of most Americans, has forced the definition and scope of journalism to become blurred.

"Forty-five years ago, it was clear what a journalist was," Broder said. "The search for facts was taken very seriously."

Now, Broder laments, journalists of all stripes have increasingly become focused on perceived character flaws instead of on fact, depth and impartiality.

"The reason that public debate has become so stunted lately, I think, is because of the loss of that informative element," he said.

Broder said he believes the line between a politician's private and public life has also become faded.

"It has become very, very murky indeed," he said.

Broder said, however, that the media should not drop character investigations altogether. Instead, he said portions of politicians' private actions are relevant to their public behavior.

Broder defended this view in four words: "Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon."

He said the cases of those two presidents proved that "character flaws of office can have truly negative consequences."

"There are aspects of political character that are relevant that go beyond bedroom behavior," he added.

Broder, an IOP fellow in the 1969-70 academic year, is also a regular contributor to such political talk shows as NBC's "Meet the Press" and CNN's "Inside Politics."