Commentary
Good Political Journalism Critical To Sustaining Free Press
- by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, December 12, 2016
The practice of journalism played a particularly central role in the 2016 election cycle.
Donald Trump’s constant press attacks in stump speeches and Twitter, put the media at the center of controversy, denigrating its role as watchdog to power. The coverage of the presidential race, a greater reliance on earned media, for example, also played a central role in normalizing and electing Donald Trump.
Despite the difficulties news organizations are facing in the Internet era with the tension between clicks and journalism's role as representing the American people, there were some bright spots.
“Journalists showed that despite being bullied online, many were still able to do their jobs with integrity,” Jordan Hoffner, CEO of Salon Media Group, told Red, White & Blog. “Particularly in a contentious and oppressive environment, it is important for journalists and news organizations to retain their focus on reporting the truth.”
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The more we learn about what Donald Trump’s press office may look like, the more his presidency resembles a Third-World strongman. While we may try to ignore the signs, and hope our federal institutions will prevent the curtailing of journalistic independence, reporters will be on a volatile front line.
The intimidation we saw from Trump during the closed-door meeting with media executives last month should alarm any ardent supporter of the First Amendment. The reaction to the hostility and lack of press access expected from a Trump West Wing should be more investigative efforts. Pointed reporting on the White House and Trump's business involvements is key to ensure the people's business is the only priority.
We need more honest coverage, such as David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post, who investigated the Trump Foundation with intense precision and honesty, during Trump’s tenure in the White House.
“Some folks did some incredibly solid reporting,” Hoffner added. “Many of the most crucial stories got drowned out, however, by their reporting being considered slanted,” either because of the publication they worked for, or meager coverage of their findings in the mainstream media.
Donald Trump’s election, and the many unanswered questions about his tax returns, business reach and even health should animate journalists to cover him with intense scrutiny. It will serve as the first defensive measure against the potential of a self-serving president, with little respect for the rights immortalized in the Constitution.
All of this sidesteps the main issue which is the public credibility of serious journalism (in frightening, long-term decline) and the average attention span and how informed are average Americans (same). Mainstream media needs to reverse a long-term trend of dumbing down, partisan-bickering-posing-as-reportage, and focusing on non-issues if it's to regain lost credibility (for which it's responsible). And that doesn't even address lost relevance at the hands of the Internet. Until journalism learns how to use online media to make people want to be better informed and engage in reasoned debate, all efforts towards maintaining or returning to rigorous resporting will be for naught.
Right on! As long as the "reputable" news sources can not be relied upon to not create fake news and to be truthful and not opinion struck in their reporting, they will be bypassed...
I have a real problem with the statement: "until journalism learns..."
The way I was taught, journalism is a science that follows very strict rules, essentially like math. It's not the job of journalism, or journalists, to "learn" or to "make" people do anything. Journalism simply presents the facts as clearly, and as free from bias as possible. How that product is interpreted is the job of the individuals in the audience.
To take it a step further; ... while there certainly is "fake news", there is no such thing as "fake journalism." Whenever Trump and his supporters shoot the messengers without offering valid counterpoint to the message, they are spotlighting their own ignorance, and their own malice.
Wait until the checks stop and a lot of people die which is exactly what happens in fascist governments.
Chuck Lantz in the comments above got it right. Journalism is a science with rules to ensure it is accurate and unbiased, and we should/can believe credible journalists like those in The NY Times and Washington Post, among many others. Trump hardliners take the easy way out by simply saying "mainstream media" are biased and wrong, but it's their candidate and those around him who are bending or hiding the truth. We all have eyes, ears and brains -- let's use them.