Journalism Is Dead
Journalism is dead. You doubt that claim? A few days ago CNN's Jim Acosta, a White House correspondent, not a "commentator," declared live on CNN, "having the President whip people up at rally after rally is the most depressing thing I’ve seen as a journalist."
Journalism died when news organizations started reporting opinion as fact. The great unwashed public and those who practice the craft of journalism are not dealing from the same set of "facts."
Mackie Morris, a long-revered expert in everything journalism, confirmed that facts have become, unfortunately, the perception of the beholder. In a frustrated Facebook post, Morris wrote:
“Nobody’s ignorant or stupid. I mean, we’re all using computers and we’re all exerting the effort to opine. So why do we have this mess now? Here it is: The real culprit in this ongoing National Shame is…the MEDIA. Write it down. Or text it, or whatever.
There’s just too much crap disguising itself as fair commentary about our life and times. Today’s media are fractured and fractionalized and they reach too few people to achieve general enlightenment. The whole thing no longer works. And this comes from a guy who has spent all of his walking-around life as a media guy…newspapers, TV, Web…JOURNALISM…55 years. Did it, taught it, and helped others do it. And today it’s basically pointless.
No longer can ANYONE study and research and think and craft a Journalistic Truth that matters, that reaches a large enough number of people, and that spurs healthy debate. All we have today is Narrow Media, not mass media, and apparently that creates crude mass-murderer attempted bombers.”
The on-demand environment we have embraced with alacrity is partially to blame. News organizations are pressed to fill every microsecond, 24/7, with content and live broadcasts without the kind of vetting process that once was required to insure only "facts" made the air or print. Since many of us seem to be collecting what we consider to be news from all kinds of sources on the internet and cable TV, none of us have the same set of facts. Morris observes:
“We absorb that which already appeals to us. And so do THEY. And it’s different stuff, competing stuff, contradictory stuff. And we believe what we believe, and they believe what they believe. And… there… is… no…way… to make sure they will ever discover what we know as news, or that we will ever discover their version of news.”
In this instant gratification society, filled with partisan opinion masquerading as news fact on both sides of the political divide, can "Journalism" be resurrected? Morris suggests,
“there is no solution to the core problem. That genie escaped the bottle and floated off into the ether. But now maybe each one of us will just quit screaming at each other. “
The optimist might turn to 18th-century English poet Alexander Pope, who offered this in “An Essay on Man;" "hope springs eternal."
While the siloed news organizations tilt coverage of this upcoming election to mask what is really at stake and until Journalism returns to its objective foundations, it is up to you to do your own research and vote November 6th for those candidates who support the freedoms and liberty that forged America.
Choose yourself. Choose conservative Republican candidates. They are the only viable choices left that still speak of our golden constitutional promises and protections. This election is about the very role of government in our lives and your right to live yours as a fully realized individual not chained to the enslaving limiting tyranny of some poorly managed socialist collective.
