There has become a rather large misnomer about “the media”. The members of this industry are alleged to be liars, cheats, ultra-left wing radical liberals, etc. etc., spreading all types of false stories, false news, unsupported allegations, etc. about the target of their story piece.
Certainly, there can be an argument that “the media” has slanted views and its reporting is biased towards supporting whatever view it holds. It would be cliché to suggest all you must do is watch CNN and Fox News and you get a clear idea of what bias is in “the media”. How easy is it to see Sean Hannity is totally a Trump person while Rachel Maddox is so far in the other corner? (By the way, I remember when CNN and Fox were actually news channels. Now they appear to be tabloid shows. I miss those 24 worldwide news broadcasts’ when one could almost be like the CIA and know what was going on around the world at any time.)
We seem to have lost our understanding of exactly what “the media” is supposed to do. And, perhaps we also misunderstand the difference between “the media” and journalists. We also seem to have forgotten there is a big difference between a reporter and someone who simply reads the news at dinner time from a teleprompter. I would dare say, a journalist is someone like Anderson Cooper, a guy who gets out in the field and does his reporting and moderates panels for in studio discussion, while a media person is someone like Megan Kelly (both of whom I thoroughly enjoy watching and of whom, I think, bring a great amount of respectability to their field) who, more or less, host panels and picks apart particular topics arising during the day.
I am hoping the large news organizations acknowledge that we have, for the most part, lost faith in their ability to bring us the facts. “Fair and balanced” means you are presenting a “side” of the story. I don’t want a “side”. I want the facts unaltered by the media’s interpretation of what those facts mean.
Accountability needs to be restored. Hear the argument, check the facts, report accordingly and hold those who spread “false news” and non-fact checked articles or broadcasts accountable for their actions. Self-police yourself, news folks. Or, we might just not watch / listen to you any longer.
I think we are all hoping that these large news organizations look inwards and seek to determine what it is they need to do to regain our respect and regain their credibility. Perhaps a lot of “just the facts, mam” reporting is what we all really yearn for.
Kevin Driscoll 