I don’t watch much news on television anymore. For me what passes as news is more akin to the stuff of a gossip column or a grocery market tabloid than serious information that people of a free society require to hold their government accountable.
Gone are the days when the evening news offered a genuine recap of events of the day, focused on facts that the viewer needed to draw a conclusion concerning what actually took place. In those days, newscasters avoided interjecting their opinions into the news, preferring to trust the judgment of their viewers about what was reported. Was there bias then? Yes, in tone and intonation a reasonable person could hear the soft warbles of doubt and cynicism that seeped through the broadcast. But there was still an effort to stick to the facts, not to offer opinion either from the news anchor or a guest commentator hovering nearby to ensure we get “what this all really means.” Nor were there on-camera interviews to entrap a guest and make them look like some sort of dolt. And blessedly, there were no shouting matches that today pass as “opinion.”
Contemporary newscasts are now designed to be the news, not to deliver it. Entire media personalities are built around them. Edification isn’t the goal. Thoughtfulness isn’t the objective. The exploration of facts has given way to exploitation of emotions. Spending 30 minutes of your day looking at a cable news show is far less meaningful than spending the same amount of time in peaceful reflection or maybe watching a honeybee dance among flowers as it does a useful thing for its society.
Print journalism is no better. Newspaper reporting has, sadly, changed also. In the days when paper editions dominated how people consumed the day’s news, there was a premium by editors and reporters alike on getting stories right, that is, factually correct. There is no delete key on a printed newspaper or magazine to correct errors or amend a story, even as new facts emerge. Yet today, the ability to instantaneously correct on-line reporting is routine in digital news editions. Errors and mischaracterizations can be corrected “on the fly” in a matter of minutes. Therefore “news”, no matter how thinly researched, can be broadcasted before it’s confirmed, particularly stories or opinions on the internet or cable news channels.
As a result, the pressure to “get the next scoop” faster than one’s news service competitor trumps the desire for accuracy. Getting the story “out” fast also impacts what is termed “click rates,” the frequency that a news consumer selects a particular news service on their computer or mobile device. This, in turn, translates to advertising dollars—based on those click rates—for a chosen news site. Unsurprisingly, the first casualty in the pursuit of “clicks” is accuracy, balance, and fair play. Speeding a story to eager news junkies, regardless of accuracy, outweighs the risk associated with sloppy reporting. Accuracy, it is thought, is far less effective in garnering a following for a particular story than a salacious headline or an attention-grabbing news ticker or “crawler” slithering across a television screen. Both are frequently inaccurate and biased in one way or the other. And the result? People are increasingly skeptical about the accuracy of what the media tells them is the news, even as they click away and fill the coffers of advertisers. Is it any wonder with our frenetic news cycle that only 4 in 10 people think the media should be believed?
Social media is far worse, resembling an open cesspool of festering human waste as opposed to a place where people can share genuine news and thoughtful opinion. Social media, particularly Twitter, is the toilet tissue of the information age. It is often inaccurate, biased, and riddled with bile. It offers everything your mother taught you was wrong to say, much less think, about other people.
Regrettably, many people are so busy that they have accustomed themselves to quickly consume news, thereby reinforcing all that is bad about how news is served up to us today. Taking the time to read detailed reporting and thoughtful opinion like that found in the Wall Street Journal—America’s most credible newspaper—requires too much time for a hasty American public eager to swallow the news in gulps like fast food from a drive-thru.
Years ago, I visited the Louvre in Paris. That museum is filled with breathtaking art. To enjoy it, you must be patient. To learn from it, you have to move slowly from one exhibit to another to take in the beauty, history, and creativity within its walls. You can’t race through the Louvre and benefit from it. You shouldn’t have to race through the news either, because not only beauty, but truth also, is important.
Categories: CBW
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