Journalism is a foundational block of our democracy. A free press was viewed as the voice of the people. As such it was granted freedom to pursue stories, facts and people to ensure that government was transparent and functioning for the benefit of the people. Unbridled freedom of the press was supposed to unearth misdeeds and skullduggery of authorities and government agencies. The press was to champion truth and facts to maintain the American Way. I doubt people today think highly of the press.
Today press spokespeople fight for TV ratings and visibility
in what remains of the print media. As America shifts to electronic media, we
have lost the depth and dedication to facts that print media brought to public attention. Transparency was a given in government functioning. No longer.
The press is not omnipresent to view and discuss the details that comprise our
government’s functioning.
Sound bite telecasts provide little attention to detail or
focus on matters that matter most to the soul of the nation. We spend
precious news time celebrating sports, entertainment personalities, and
watching detailed projections of weathercasts.
What passes for news are topics that journalists feel will
worry the public. Consequently, they worry over negative economic forecasts,
faulty crime scene coverage, public health issues, mainly confusion contained
in those subjects and mostly created by reporters themselves.
To wit, confusion over the COVID vaccines. No confusion exists. The reports from NIH,
FDA and CDC are carried on newscasts and minute differences and matters of
timing are exaggerated to present a nonunified sense of public health management.
Instead, please let the experts in medicine and science do their job and advise
the public on the best course of treatment and protection against the pandemic.
Journalists ought not be the focal point but they are. They produce their own
personality cult to support ratings, not facts. Impressions are not facts.
Opinions are not fact. Stick to the facts so the rest of us can make our own
conclusions. Meanwhile, pubic discord over mask and vaccine mandates are pushed
forward bringing more chaos to a complicated scene.
I used to read daily papers in depth. Two of them each day.
I looked forward to the nightly newscast on TV and trusted what I witnessed
there. Today newscasts are less than 15 minutes per half hour focused on
news spread over many ‘stories.’ There are fewer facts in the reports on topics
that matter than there are on sports, weather and entertainment. We get less
news today than we did in the past, plus more advertising. News is big business
for TV networks. They make a lot of money from ads but do not re-invest those
funds into news gathering and news research. Just window dressing to attract
audience. Sad.
Each network used to have major weekly newscasts that
treated a few topics in depth. Like 60 Minutes, these programs
were like news magazines that delved into details and followed stories
for months. Today, very few electronic news magazines exist.
I also scoured weekly news magazines avidly; for me it was
Time Magazine. The most important news items were arrayed first, then lesser
ones followed. Departments were included for the sports junkies, economics and
commerce fans, as well as the arts and entertainment nerds. You read the
sections most interesting to you. I had choice in those days. I could follow
key issues closely and read more in depth studies elsewhere. Today that is not
possible unless you are a researcher or aficionado in Foreign Affairs or
National affairs. I am; so I get specialized journals in those arenas.
We are left today with journalism in disarray and weak. They
have few resources to dive into the most important matters of our public’s
life. The result is a poorly informed citizenry that makes poor political
decisions and easily manipulated by false facts and opinions.
If journalism is to regain a respected position in American
life, Fox News should disappear, public opinion ‘columnists’ on TV should
disappear, and separate sports and entertainment shows should provide interest to those audiences
separate from news programming. Weather continues to be needed to understand if an umbrella or overcoat is needed for the next day’s commute. Nothing
more unless weather, as climate change, is a featured current topic.
Get real. Get serious. Question what the journalist is
reporting. Who wrote the copy? How much research was devoted to getting the
story straight? And finally, question whether the topic being reported is
important enough to deserve your focus and attention.
In the end, I think government is in disarray precisely because
journalism is inadequate to the task at hand.
October 28, 2021
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