I’m getting very weary of something. It’s hard enough when one side of the political spectrum, the conservatives were first, starts using catch phrases like “mainstream media,” when talking about journalists. That side will use it when it wants to put an exclamation point on its point of view, but now we have both sides bashing the “mainstream media.” The liberals are saying that “mainstream media” is owned by corporations and doesn’t serve the middle and lower classes. The most recognizable conservative talk show host talks about “mainstream media” constantly. Now I’ve heard a couple of liberal hosts pick it up. I wonder whether they have looked at who signs their paychecks? Both sides. I’ll bet it’s a corporation. Is it a conservative corporation? Is it a liberal corporation? I’m not going to use personality names here because it’s not as much about personalities as it is the role they are playing. They both have picked up the talking points—dueling talking points—same target. Pretty ridiculous, huh?
When I landed here in San Francisco, I was hired by ABC. During the time I was there it was sold to Capital Cities, Disney, Citadel—all corporations. I did newscasts. We were a major market major player. Not once—not one time—did anybody from corporate talk to us about editorial content. Not once did any of them sit in on editorial story meetings. Even the President and General Manager stayed away. Our only directive was to make sure we covered both sides and had points of view from all sides on controversial issues.
I worked for the ABC Radio Network on occasion. It never directed the editorial flow of the newscasts. I substituted for Paul Harvey News and Comment, who in turn worked for ABC. Paul was conservative. The network didn’t tell him what to think, write, or report. When I was substituting for him, he didn’t give me editorial guidance. Neither did the network.
Cable TV has changed that. Fox has a conservative bent, MSNBC liberal, and CNN somewhere in between. They have become mini “talk shows.” I don’t consider them “mainstream media news.” They are trying to appeal to a niche audience. When I do my talk shows and commentaries, I understand they are informational but also have a point of view. That is not mainstream news. The real “mainstream media” is just trying to cover stories.
The name callers are not doing a good job of framing things. In mainstream news, people want to hear information, good clean, as editorially neutral as is humanly possible. I’d say the vast majority of journalists do that. Blaming the “mainstream media” when it isn’t even defined properly is pointless, stupid, and in the business sense, counterproductive.
So called “Mainstream Media” isn’t the devil, but maybe those people trying to find something to stir up an audience, are.
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