Nostalgia is important when considering the contributions of the news networks of the past. News networks in the 1950s and 1960s ran deficits because the entertainment sectors raked in tremendous profits that subsidized losses in the news segment.
However, the move to sensationalized news was not due to the fact that owners became “greedier than their predecessors were, but because the financial challenges they face are tougher.” Programming costs have increased with ratings fell, and “hit shows are harder to find” within the hundreds of available TV channels. News programs are “looked to as ways to subsidize entertainment and sports offerings — just the reverse of the way things used to be.”
Streamline, Acquire, Lower Costs
The decline of the number of newspapers across the country is the result of large companies acquiring smaller, non-performing outlets, or similarly-sized outlets that combine their resources to reduce operating costs while increasing readership or viewership.
Acquisitions and partnerships cut out inefficiencies that maximize profit by lowering operating costs while reducing the organization’s tax burden. Streamlining staff, equipment, and distribution channels are the results of organizational realignment in all businesses, including the media.
Biases
There is some truth to the claim that for-profit news can be biased. Corporations and owners of media outlets have been known to influence what is written/said and what is left out. When journalists do not toe the organizational line, they become marginalized or are fired. To add to the bias, some journalists (due to their own personal beliefs) will only work for newspaper outlets that allows them to espouse their own values.
Conversely, most media consumers are also biased and will gravitate only towards the news outlets that support their own opinions. In my view, the news outlets are catering to the biases of their viewers/readers in a search for profits which from a broader sense of view, inadvertently creates a distorted reality.
I believe that consumers who are not after the entertainment value of today’s news, must discern the real news from what is said in emotionally-charged rant and the implicit ideas in an unemotionally-delivered news tidbits.
What Does “Trust” Mean?
Iwould ask more definitive questions to gauge what “trust in the media”truly means. Can a news outlet be trusted if it sensationalizes the title of an article to increase readership? Should a news outlet be labeled as not trustworthy if the report is incomplete because the journalist lacks facts? Do some consumers label a news piece as not trustworthy because it runs counter to their beliefs?
I believe that each and every one of us must take the personal responsibility to gauge facts, to read into what is written and what is left unsaid, to wait until all facts are fully presented, and more importantly, to withhold judgment until the emotion that has been stirred up by news reports has subsided.
Non-Profit News Can Be Biased
What is hardly discussed is the number of non-profit newspapers all over the world. “The Internationalist” in the UK and Australia, “The Chicago Reporter” and “Voice of San Diego” are a sample of the fact that there is at least one non-profit news outlet in every state in the US. Most would assume that non-profit news is factual or non-biased.
However, even the non-profit sector can lean towards a cause as indicated by the Washington Times that found “biased outlets are thinly disguised as nonprofit journalism.”
Instant News Does Not Often Equate to Meaningful Value
Ido not believe that, at this point, social media has become the purveyor of meaningful news. Due to its ubiquity, social media has become the purveyor of instant data, but not necessarily news that has been analyzed or presented in the most unbiased way.
According to the Del Valle Learning Center in Boston, there are 6 social media platforms, namely: 1) Social Networking such as Facebook and LinkedIn; 2) Microblogging such as Twitter and Tumblr to post very short entries or updates; 3) Blogging such as WordPress and Blogger to record opinions, stories, and articles; 4) Photo Sharing such as Instagram, Flickr, Snapchat and Pinterest; 5) Video Sharing such as You Tube and Vimeo; and 6) Crowdsourcing such as Ushahidi, Inc, and Wikipedia that obtains needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from people from the same online community. A majority of the outlets listed above are designed for immediate consumption, for sharing without deliberate discussion, and to gain online social network points.
Counter Speech?
The assumption that the “counter speech doctrine” is affected by fake news is correct up to a point. The Fordham Law Review points out that “fake news produces a ‘blanket of fog’ that interferes with the electorate’s ability to make informed, rational decisions about candidates by ‘obscuring the real news and information communicated by campaigns.” It’s difficult to hold a meaningful dialog when facts are not presented, or are miscommunicated about their real worth.
In online communities where time matters and success is measured in seconds, not days or weeks as in traditional media, news outlets must be aggressive and forward-leaning. If content is not consumed, liked, shared, or read immediately, their platform can become stale within minutes and another network’s article would devour the audience’s attention. In my opinion, dialog within a vacuum of political ideology is merely an echo of other people’s opinions.
A Personal Choice
Inmy view, if the consumer wants full situational awareness, then he/she must purposely visit competing websites, not wait for the algorithms to cater to his/her biases, and reserve meaningful dialog only with those interested in applying the counter speech doctrine.
Nagler’s 4 Tips for Spotting a Fake News Story states that “people under the age of 50 get their news online.”This presents a platform that can shape the way younger consumers think and how they value current events. She points out 4 ways to evaluate the news, namely: 1) Vet the publisher’s credibility, 2) Pay attention to quality and timeliness, 3) Check the sources and citations, and 4) Ask the pros. From a personal accountability standpoint, I must take the opportunity to scrutinize the timing and delivery of news, and research the history of issues before making judgment and taking tangible action.
First Reports Are Not Always Accurate
First reports are not always accurate. To stay unbiased, informed, and ethical when I consume data, I must remember that the quantity of data and the audible volume (whether loud or muted) manner of the delivery of data — does not speak of its quality.
From the viewpoint of the journalist, he/she is being ethical from an objective responsibility to increase readership and viewership of the organization’s platforms.
Unbiased consumers of media will validate data by checking the source, tone, and timing of information, then disregard the rest of the drama.
Conclusion
In summary, we can still have ethical news efficiently delivered by for-profit organizations. Sensationalized news can be ethical, just as news that is un-emotionally delivered can be skewed.
Copyright Leonard Casiple 2023. All rights reserved.
About the author: Leo Casiple is a first-generation American who grew up in Southern Philippines under martial law. He spent much of his 21-year career in the US Army as a Green Beret.
Leo is currently a doctoral student at Northeastern University’s Doctor of Law and Policy program (2022–2025 Cohort). He earned his education from California Lutheran University (MPPA), ASU Thunderbird School of Global Management (MBA in Global Management), Excelsior University (BS in Liberal Arts, Ethnic and Area Studies), Academy of Competitive Intelligence (Master of Competitive Intelligence™), Defense Language Institute and Foreign Language Center (18-month Arabic Language Course), and the US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (Special Forces Qualification Course and Psychological Operations Specialist Course).
For more information about the author, click here: Leo’s LinkedIn Profile
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