Journalism Death Spiral

When I took a journalism course at SIUE, as part of my mass-communication program, there were many reasons to study it and many legitimate uses and outlets for the knowledge. Things are changing...and not for the better of our country and society in general. 

Google journalism and you will get this definition- the activity or profession of writing for newspapers, magazines, or news websites or preparing news to be broadcast.

Newspapers? Nobody younger than 70 reads them anymore. Magazines? Pretty much the same story there. Websites? There is precious little actual journalism that matters going on there. Broadcasting? News broadcasts on radio and TV are foreign territory to people under 40. As we say frequently in the mass-comm classes I teach at SWIC, "The internet changed everything." As part of that..."Social media changes everything even further." 

Commonsensemedia.org says--Teens get their news more frequently from social media sites (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) or from YouTube than directly from news organizations. More than half of teens (54%) get news from social media, and 50% get news from YouTube at least a few times a week. 

So, it doesn't take much to believe traditional media is in big trouble. Small town newspapers are going out of business every day. "Mom and pop" radio stations that actually cover local news can't make money and most have been sold off to some church or gone dark long ago. Websites that offer an attempt at journalism like the New York Times and Washington Post are owned by big media conglomerates and usually fall into presenting a liberal or conservative agenda to carve out a profitable audience. The television networks, both cable and broadcast, are bending to the same approach. More locally, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (StLToday.com) and Belleville News-Democrat (bnd.com) have pay-walls, low subscription rates, and awful staffing issues that make it difficult to find anything approaching journalistic excellence. 

Part of the mission in journalism, and this is no revelation, is the watch-dog function. Keeping an eye on the government goings-on and activities of elected officials is key to how we operate in America. How many people have you heard lately say.."I'm going to the city council meeting because I'm interested in making my voice heard and watching my city council person vote when it comes to making decisions." Not many I'll bet. So having reporters (print and broadcast), columnists, and show-hosts, involved in the process is vital to shining light on it all. 

Social media is just that...social. It has no mission when it comes to truthfulness in disseminating information or investigating government activity. You get what you get...and usually from totally unreliable sources who are attempting to influence the consumer in some way. 

The person, or company, who finds a way to re-invent journalism in a way that's profitable will be a hero in the 21st century. Factual and valuable information written or broadcast in a way that raises the level of public consciousness and awareness is drowning in a sea of worthless messages thrown around on cell-phone apps. Somehow our younger population must also be educated to believe that constantly staring at Tik Tok or other short-burst entertainment options on their phones only makes them more vulnerable to the vultures who would influence them and provides little in the way of societal value.

Some might say the days of 3 television networks, a handful of TV stations per major market, and thousands of local radio and newspaper operations were no bargain. They might say people are more informed than ever with internet information available at one's fingertips all the time. My response would be, "But what is the real value of that information? Has it been vetted for credibility? Did anyone bother to get the other side of the story? Did the source of the information actually do some homework...or just offer a personal opinion?" 

Real journalism matters; otherwise those with evil intentions and personal agendas have the upper hand. There's a reason freedom of the press was given constitutional protection in the early days of this country. My fear is there is a dwindling "professional press" to enjoy that freedom and provide a valuable product to America.