Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie - Année 1995 - Volume 18 - Numéro 1 - Pages 105-113Pierre Lepape : Journalists and Men of Letters. The Encyclopédie's Position. The 18th-century literary elite had little respect for journalists or journalism, which it considered as the lower chamber of literature, and the opposition was strengthened by the great success of the periodical press. Competition took the form of commercial war, the fight for prestige and intellectual rivalry. In many Encyclopédie articles the contempt for journalism is developed, but Diderot's article JOURNALISTE takes a different stand. By laying down laws for journalism in the service of the public good, he provided men of letters and journalists with common rules for an aesthetics, a logic and an ethics of intellectual communication. 9 pages Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.