George Rebane
We’re all aware of the travails of newspapers and most MSM news outlets. There are many factors blamed for newspapers limiting deliveries, many shutting down, broadcasters reducing their news gathering staffs, etc. Lot of the blame is being directed at the Internet and the growing population of bloggers. For reasons easy to understand, the declining state of journalism is not usually fingered in these reports.
However, the problems with that profession are now getting to be so bad that an increasing chorus of criticism is beginning to be heard across the land. The modern journalist is more often than not viewed with a jaundiced eye by the general public, and almost always discounted by the better read crowd. Decades of denial behind them, the American street is even beginning to understand that the journeyman journalist has to be the piper who fashions his tunes according to the politics and preferences of his publisher, editor, and advertiser. And the tighter they wrap themselves in their vaunted Code of Ethics to deflect the slings and arrows, the higher rise the peals of laughter.
The most recent of a series of books on the subject is a collection of essays titled Blind Spot, edited by Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert, and Roberta Ahmanson. This volume documents examples of ignorant, naïve, and plain wrong reporting that has appeared in the nation’s premier press during the last decade or so. The examples cited range from idiotic conclusions about the targets of Islamic terror (e.g. the NYT’s report that the Mumbai Jewish Center was an unfortunate random selection for the recent execution of its occupants) to sophomoric predictions about the public’s reaction to a prominent religious feature film.
The inability by the rank and file journalists to reliably report facts or happenings is, of course, legend. Blind Spot also makes clear that such quality of reporting is found at all levels of news outlets – from the international networks to the local small town newspaper. One wonders how these folks are interviewed for their jobs. This environment of mediocrity continues to give a favorable launchpad for the reporters who can get it right. Compared to their colleagues, these rare birds can and do soar like eagles in the world of serious news reporting. And it is the glow of their halos that, for good or ill, illuminate the reputation of the rest.
I applaud the efforts of publications such as Blind Spot to educate the reading public to the realities of professional news as the important information product in our lives. Episodes like the Dan Rather firing and ongoing litigation are a good sign that the industry does want to improve itself when a critical spotlight is turned on it. I don’t know how it’s going to end up (things never ‘end up’), but for now, journalism is on a descending arc, and bloggers are on the ascent as sources of reliable and comprehensive news. As with investments, the best bet in news is to diversify your sources.
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