shakran

Yes I do, and here's why. You're entirely correct that news stations (and most journalism outfits, not just TV, btw) are owned by large corporations.

So attacking it from a "journalists should tell the story no matter what because it's the right thing to do" perspective won't work. Oh, you'll convince us alright, but then we're already convinced so that's not necessary.

What you need to do is attack it from a "holy shit, you're gonna lose a CRAPload of money" perspective. Right now the large corporations think the American public wants more reality shows and less news. And they think what news you do want must be chock full of entertainment value. And you don't want much international news because "those funny names are hard to pronounce" and "other countries are so far away from us."

So, a mass movement of the public needs to prove them wrong. Whether its TV, radio, or newspaper, profit is the bottom line. And the only way to make more money is to get more eyeballs on your news product. If masses of people write in and say "I'm not gonna look at your product unless you start acting like real journalists again" then the bosses will either respond by turning their journos loose to do their jobs, or face the consequences when they lose viewer/readership.

Now the problem with this little scheme of mine is manyfold. But the big problem is (i'm switching to only TV here since that's my area) viewers are MUCH more likely to write in to complain about what clothes the anchor wore or the way the meteorologist talks than they are to write in and complain about the integrity and thoroughness of the journalism. So getting that mass movement together is going to be very tough.

you're largely correct, but that is overly simplified. First off, this didn't start with Bush. It would be more accurate to say it started with Reagan, who abolished the fairness doctrine. Second, journalists haven't abdicated anything. The press didn't abdicate anything. Unfortunately, the press and TV stations are two different things. The news department is only one part of a TV station. The higher ups at TV stations are the ones making the decision to sell out to large corporations. Ask just about any TV journalist and our dream is to start our own TV station that's staffed entirely by journalists and that delivers the news the RIGHT way. Unfortunately since the average TV journalist makes between 20 and 40 thousand a year, getting the funds together to actually do this is very unlikely.



Well first off if you really pay attention the msp can still help you out. Look at the justification to the Iraq war for instance. Look at Colin Powell's speech to the UN that supposedly proved Iraq had WMD. Now I saw the same speech you did, many outlets carried it live, and CP had butkus for evidence. That was obvious to me, and to many others. The information IS out there if you make the effort to find it. Unfortunately most people don't want to make that effort.

And that's a HUGE problem with the American press. Media execs have decided you guys don't WANT international news. They've decided you can't understand international news even if you do want it.

I personally think that's bullshit. One of the most-watched series EVER was a multipart look into conditions in Africa. The ratings were through the roof. If we as journalists make world news available to you, you will consume it.

Now, we're starting to get into an interesting age. With satellite radio, and the internet, it's not very hard at all for you to fire up a BBC broadcast. You CAN get the international news you want. You just have to want it. And if you can't find it from an American news outlet, go find it from the BBC.



One of the problems there is with this concept of media bias. Higher ups at the outlets are so scared that the public will label them as biased, that they bias themselves toward bad coverage. We're so scared you'll think we're liberally biased if we tell you Bush screwed up, that we won't tell you bush screwed up unless someone else SAYS Bush screwed up.

The press used to go out and dig up the facts. Now they largely sit around waiting for some group to dig up the facts, then report it as "these guys say .. . " to avoid bias. Unfortunately, we're also avoiding our jobs when we do that.

Who's at fault for that? Well, partly the guys who scream "media bias" every time the media reports something they don't like. The rest belongs squarely with the media bosses who kowtow to that kind of manipulative bullshit.


As I said, profit is the name of the game. And it will be until media outlets are busted away from their parent megacorporations.



I appreciate that. I do want to emphasize, however, that journalists with integrity are out there, and in great numbers. Our problem is that our hands are tied by our corporate bosses. The business is largely one of compromise nowadays. "Well if I give them this bullshit story about how good this woman feels now that she's using energy efficient light bulbs (made by GE) then maybe they'll let me expose the corruption on this other story"

Sadly, it won't, for the reasons I mentioned above. Actually there's plenty of censure by our peers. Newsblues.com is only one place that routinely bashes poor journalism. But our corporate owners don't care about that - they only care about the almighty dollar. And since you the viewer are in control of that dollar, it's you the viewer that must convince the corporations of what you want.

By the way, you might find "Bad News" by Tom Fenton a very interesting read.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006...lance&n=283155