ARCASHA

H E G



United They Speak

January 02, 2002 - 19:42

As someone who�s spent a big chunk of his life working in �the media� (operationally, not editorially), I�m more than a bit troubled by media trends, not just since Sept. 11th, but since the late �70�s really.

There�s a tendency to label �The Media� as a single entity, particularly when they�re telling us something we don�t agree with or what we don�t want to hear � like it�s a conspiracy or something. Well it�s not! Reporters are individuals and have a wide range of backgrounds and opinions. The trouble is that reporters (real reporters, not those tabloid hacks) are expected to be objective � without opinion. So, in order to maintain that objectivity, they bend over backward not to express a point of view. Chances are, the story you�re reading or hearing IS the story, whether you like it or not.

However, editors are expected to express an opinion. The general public tends to lump anything in media (editorial, reportage, whatever�heck, even The West Wing) altogether so that journalistic rules are extremely blurred. To be fair, those rules are written for and by the media, broken regularly, and are extremely incestuous. The public shouldn�t be asked to make distinctions for the media�s sake.

HAVING SAID ALL THAT�

�The Media� is guilty of many things. For me, the major ills in media today are what I�ve heard referred to as �group think� and, closely related, a general lack of effort to do research and dig for the truth.

The WOT (War On Terrorism) is the latest example of group think and, to some extent, downright censorship. There�s no room or tolerance for stories that contradict the official line. The media has become a mouthpiece for government, law enforcement, and the military.

One reason for this is that reporters feed off eachother - perhaps in an effort to get the story right, or just to get stories. This was made painfully evident with the plethora of scandal stories in US media of late. One outlet would report some juicy bit of gossip and pretty soon everyone was running the same story.

The first thing broadcast reporters do when they get to work is to read newspapers and press releases. They may expand on what�s been written but the story has been written and the point of view will be the same. Story meetings will be based on what�s already been written or broadcast. Radio and Internet media will be more current because they update more often but the root of the story is fixed.

Different media outlets may send their own reporters to a war zone to get a particular point of view, but when they get there, they�re all herded around like sheep. Their exposure to what�s happening is so controlled that it�s inevitable that they all tell the same stories.

This leads to my second major problem with news organizations. In my opinion, news organizations no longer take the time, nor have the moral fortitude to do the grunt work of journalism � to get their hands dirty. There�s no Woodward and Bernstien exposing corruption and wrongdoing. There are very few outlets showing the weaknesses in �the system�. Any politician or corporation, etc. that realizes this flaw can completely manipulate the media with a few well placed press releases or staged events.

One outfit that breaks the pattern is PBS with �Frontline� and �The Newshour� but no one watches that stuff. No one seems to have the patience to get more than a minute and a half of a story. The masses, while cursing their media, consume its bland and single-minded message to the limit. Any discussion in a coffee shop or living room will reflect a point of view that�s been expressed on a major network or newspaper � not the depth of information that most stories require to be understood properly.

I don�t know where and how these weaknesses will change. Most media outlets are now owned by large conglomerates and are no longer independent. They�re increasingly under pressure from their advertisers. If the owners of a news organization are in favour of bombing the piss out of the poorest nation on earth, you won�t hear much dissent for said bombing of said nation. �J� schools seem to be churning out reporters with, at least, uniform news gathering skills if not opinion. That, I think, is where changes need to start. Budding reporters need to know that they can offer differing points of view.

True democracy can only work when there are opposing forces. It maintains balance. Otherwise, we end up with an autocracy. A free media�the fifth estate�is there to ensure that balance. The media we have is getting dangerously close to failing that mandate.

Arc

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