I recently watched part 3 of Frontline’s report called News War on PBS and it was incredibly interesting and relevant to our study of censorship issues. (Here is the link to the intro of that episode, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/view/16.html The entire series can be seen on-line at pbs.org).
Advertiser Control:
One point of part 3 of the series was that when television news began it did not exist to make the government or advertisers happy but to tell a story that sometimes wasn’t popular. When the networks realized that the news had the potential to draw serious ad dollars everything seemed to change. Many of the magazine news shows have changed their standards to appeal to advertiser’s demographic. Shows such as Dateline, 20/20, and Primetime have changed in character so much that they are barely recognizable and the content is a blatant attempt to snare CSI-type viewers. An executive from ABC was asked if they had lowered the standards of news shows to satisfy advertisers and he answered no. Putting a classic television spin on things, he said that they have not lowered their standards, they have broadened them to appeal to more people. While his diction and syntax were careful not to give away the truth, his eyes told a different story. We are for sale.
Government Control:
Many of the journalists interviewed spoke of a White House that puts constraint what questions can be asked by the press. If a journalist tells a story the White House doesn’t want told, the President has said that they have “blood on their hands”. In undergrad, I took a course called The History of the Holocaust and I learned about the utilization of yellow journalism (propaganda or biased opinions disguised as facts) by Adolf Hitler. He began to publish this yellow journalism as a way to manipulate people’s opinions under the guise of legitimate news. I am not comparing Bush to Hitler because that would be crazy even for an absolute liberal like me, but I am saying that when you attempt to control the freedom of the media and the public’s access to relevant news dangerous results are possible. Like Fox News.
I am not against the networks making money but when it comes to our news it needs to be absolutely fearless and not dummied down, or sold, or controlled by intimidating methods of the government. The remedy Frontline suggested for people who want news that is unbridled can be found in citizen media. Citizen media has turned ordinary people with a blog and a camera into journalists. The trend is criticized by journalism purists like Nicholas Lemann who writes for The New Yorker. He compares citizen journalists to the pamphleteering of Colonial times only faster moving. http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060807fa_fact1. Lemann does not completely discredit this new form of journalism he also does not think it will replace traditional journalism anytime soon.
I know one thing is certain, we are at a crossroad between the way we grew up getting information and a quest for something more honest and accessible.
