THE DEATH OF SERIOUS JOURNALISM

In a democracy, the media are – ideally – supposed to be reporters of the news – not creators of it.

There doesn’t seem to be much genuine (and unbiased) reporting of “news” anymore – because, these days, “news” seems to be defined by the political stance of the organization that’s reporting it. Broadcast “journalism” – especially on cable - is becoming just another forum in which self-righteous “reporters” create their own news from their own viewpoints, and then push it on their audiences…who are tuning in precisely because that particular station is reporting only the “news” they want to hear.

I see television stations becoming shills for whatever political party - and political positions - their corporate owners favor. (I mean, really, folks, no matter what your political leanings, should the word "News" really be used after the word "Fox"???) I see local TV anchors and reporters becoming "personalities" rather than serious journalists. And I see an unending procession of beautiful people - who are not necessarily serious journalists - parading across my screen during just about any news program I watch. And self-proclaimed journalists – actually shills for one party or another – have actually become media stars.

Popular tastes being what they are in this country, the few broadcast media that are still objective – such as CNN - are experiencing pressure to become more opinionated, more “showtime,” more hip.

As for the print media, I see more and more reporters becoming, basically, "local" reporters, or "consumer" reporters...as "local" and "consumer" have become a mantra that's repeated ad nauseum by newspapers trying clumsily to adapt to a new world. I see journalists, who may have been correspondents or investigative reporters previously, now going "local"...or, often, becoming social network stars with huge online followings.

I'm one of those people who believes that a dearth of serious journalism - and journalists - is a grave threat to democracy. I just want to hear the news. I just want straight, objective, unbiased reporting of the news. Then I’ll make up my own mind as to where I stand on an issue. I don’t need to be shouted at.

Obviously, many of the news “models” in our country are changing; and based on the fact that many of their structures are unsustainable in this new world, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But I just hope that we don’t change into news models that are based purely on political agendas. Because that is the antithesis of those in a democracy.

THE DEATH THROES OF PRINT MEDIA

THE DEATH THROES OF PRINT MEDIA

Steve Winston

I'm on the Web all day long...from 6:15 a.m., when I first sit down to check the e-mail before my morning run, until midnight. And I do get most of my information - both professional and personal - from the Web.

Yet, nonetheless, I'm one of those people who have been mourning the apparent death of the print magazine (and newspaper, and book). And I’ll tell you why…

For one thing, I have serious doubts as to whether the Web will ever be able to apply the same rigorous standards of journalism and objective analysis at which print media (for the most part) have excelled. And I have doubts, as well, that the Web – around which people move with incredible frequency - will ever be able to provide the longer "think-pieces" at which so many newspapers and magazines have excelled.

For me, reading has always been a sensory experience. I still really love reading the paper while I (gulp down) my breakfast (especially if the Florida Marlins have won the night before!). I really get excited when one of the magazines to which I subscribe arrives in the mail; and I really enjoy the feel of the pages on my fingers when I read it. Also, I have an appreciation for great photography as an art-form…and I’m more prone to really explore a magnificent photo in print form that I am on the Web. I really enjoy, as well, the fact that a print piece offers me a medium with no distractions...it doesn't ring, or blink on the screen, every time I get an e-mail (tempting me to leave what I'm reading).

Newspapers have also been a physical chronicler of history in ways that electronic media cannot. For example, I was still a boy when Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, and when men first walked on the moon. But I can still recall the giant headlines in Newsday the next morning(s). In fact, I remember actually saving the front page after momentous events that I thought would be of historical significance. Sometimes I wish I still had that old scrapbook. What incredible memories of time and place and emotion it would strike!

I think of myself as an early-adapter. Yet, I don’t really know how easy it will be for me to adapt to books on the Web. To me, there's nothing that says "this is my time to relax and escape" like settling down on a thick couch with a good book - in my hands, rather than on a screen.

So, although I spend most of my life online – and couldn’t make a living as a public relations practitioner without the ease (and instantaneous nature) of electronic information and communication - I'm still somewhat emotional about the place of print media in American democracy. I'm hopeful that at least some of the more “important” newspapers and magazines of our day will survive the shakeout.

And I’m hopeful, as well, that at least some print publications that had been written off as dead may not need obituaries, after all.

Otherwise, I’m afraid we’ll find out - too late - that a valuable piece of who we are has been lost.

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com