The journalism industry is in dire need of an overhaul

Constitutional framer James Madison helped create the free press in America. He once sang its praises, writing, “To the press alone, checkered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.” The press in that era certainly meant something different from what is seen in America’s news industry today, but it’s a safe bet Madison would be appalled by contemporary press performance.

The free press was established to serve as surrogate for the citizenry and to watchdog the government on behalf of the American people. Today, the nation has little confidence in the Fourth Estate to effectively serve its constitutional role. National polls indicate less than a third of respondents trust the media. The decline has been steep and steady for almost two decades.

{mosads}Approximately 80 percent of Americans believe coverage of the 2016 election was biased. That figure necessarily includes many Clinton supporters. A recent Quinnipiac University poll shows broad disapproval of news media performance, with 33 percent reporting dissatisfaction and another 26 percent saying they are angry about how the media does its job.

Social observer and media analyst Camille Paglia reflected the nation’s sentiments recently in a radio interview in which she bluntly said, “There is no journalism left.” She went on to say “the news media have turned themselves over to the most childish fraternity, kind of buffoonish behavior,” adding “it is going to take decades to recover from this atrocity.”

Indeed, the “childish fraternity” is unable to provide the triumphs of reason while obsessing over a simplistic and concocted news agenda, swarming to every feeding frenzy and sensationalizing polarization in the pursuit of ratings and clicks. Twentieth century journalist and cultural critic Walter Lippmann once wrote, “Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.” So it is with the coastal journalistic hubs in which too many reporters see the world through the same cultural and ideological lenses.

The American free press, created to hold the powerful accountable, doesn’t even hold itself accountable. Rhetorician/philosopher Richard Weaver saw the onset of press negligence in his 1948 book, “Ideas Have Consequences.” He said the press distorted and controlled reality as a means to hold public attention, but with “no moral inspiration.” Sensationalism, he warned, was being substituted by the media for reflection. Not at all the press performance Madison praised.

The problem is more than whether the press can report fairly and with perspective. Media today ignore the responsibility to guide a nation’s sociopolitical discourse. This leadership void has created a communication chaos in which fake news and social media outbursts have become replacements for news of substance. Worse yet, the vacuous nature of the traditional media has so turned off the citizenry that many people become political bystanders, opting to remain uninformed and disengaged from civic life. 

Instead of focusing on its own issues regarding credibility and societal responsibility, the press has chosen in recent months to brood about President Trump’s anti-media barrages. Press leaders must understand that Trump’s attacks aren’t the cause of public distrust of media. Trump has only exploited an anti-press sentiment already ingrained into the public psyche. The public won’t sympathize with the press when Trump attacks because he is articulating much of what the public feels.

Fixing what ails the news industry might, as Paglia asserts, take decades. The fix won’t happen as long as formerly respected news outlets such as NBC throw millions of dollars at Megyn Kelly to anoint her with celebrity status, only to have her be overmatched in her interview with Russian strongman Putin. It won’t happen with ABC News having football player turned “journalist” Michael Strahan wasting resources and time with an exclusive interview of a dolt like Dennis Rodman. It won’t happen as long as journalism schools are designed to replicate the current media industry standards that led to the collapse of public confidence in its supposed surrogates.

The fix must come, not from the newsrooms of big media, but from the corporate leadership at the very top of the massive media corporations. Sadly, those corporate giants know more about merger financing than journalistic duty or societal responsibility. It is time they read about the vision Madison had for a free press. It is time they understand and internalize the harm their lack of vision is doing to an American people whose information needs go unmet.

Jeffrey McCall (@Prof_McCall) is a professor of communication at DePauw University.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.