Part 2: How to Reform American News
Recent weeks show the news is broken and needs to be fixed now.
OK, round two…
So above is another post from Threads by entrepreneur Mark Cuban who seemed to be in sync with what many in the U.S. are feeling about the news media. As I mentioned in my previous post, some Americans are displeased about how the big news outlets (broadcast and cable news, plus the New York Times and the Washington Post) covered the RNC. Granted, the need to lightly report and observe the speeches and the vibe during the convention came in the footsteps of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Perhaps there was a need to be easygoing with the former president.
But that’s the problem. News is news and reporting is reporting, especially with a high-stakes presidential election in a few months. There was plenty of room to question what was going on and what was being said, such as Teamsters’ Sean O’Brien speaking at the RNC despite the Republican party’s long anti-union stance or celebrity Amber Rose’s appearance even though she is an abortion rights advocate, and having an OnlyFans account that would make any evangelical Christian see red.
In addition, many in the U.S. are concerned about what another Trump presidency would bring given all the legislation that has been passed since 2020 (banning alleged CRT courses in public schools, limiting abortion, cutting back on LGBTQ+ rights) plus his focus on putting his opponents on trial apparently out of revenge. And then there is the threat of Project 2025, which will radically change the daily lives of Americans in a way many will find oppressive and dystopian. Yet, none of these were brought up by the big news media (notice how I won’t say mainstream media. I talked about that term once before).
Also, there’s been a lot of criticism towards the news media about how it focused on President Biden’s slow and senile performance during last month’s debate and not equally on Trump’s long list of lies. And now that Biden will no longer run for president, there are some wondering if the news media would focus on Trump’s age (78 years) and how he’s now the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history. If he’s elected, he’ll be 82 years old in 2028.
So what is going on here? A lot of criticism towards the news media, that’s for sure. And if someone as famous and wealthy as Mark Cuban is not only speaking out against this but is brainstorming on how to solve the distrust towards the news, but also the disappointment, then clearly something big needs to be done.
But if you saw my previous post, the Internet really did a lot of damage to the news business, particularly when it came to advertisement. Internet ads cost less than print ads so that means many news websites are struggling to stay afloat; same with newspapers which have closed by the thousands in the last 20 years. And then you have the “rage bait” giving people knee-jerk reactions to sensationalized headlines or the opinion stations that have replaced the serious news reporting done by the news stations. It is almost like within 20 years, American news was reduced to the Jerry Springer Show, minus the fist fights and the explicit behavior.
What is the hope? Is there any hope?
Mark Cuban suggests all news sources - no matter which one - needs to be registered as such and then categorized, as you can see above. Next, he suggests, no opinions of any kind - video, op-eds - are allowed on these accounts.
Sounds like a plan, but I wonder how Americans will adjust to not seeing opinions on a verified news source. It might be one huge culture shock. Opinion and reporting are under the same umbrella, and that’s not OK.
But how will all these news sources be verified? And who will be verifying? How do we know the difference between opinion and reporting if the two are blended? Oh heck, what if a podcaster or a news site slips an opinion into this account idea? The downside to Cuban’s idea is that it sounds ripe for corruption and phony promises, much like when Elon Musk bought Twitter to make a better place for free speech, only to turn it into a far-right mess.
Also, there are ways to find which news outlet is verified and trustworthy. There’s Forth, a platform where reporters and journalists can list their work and have a following. Then there is Ad Fontes Media, the “home of the media bias chart” and AllSides which provides just that, along with its own media bias chart which, I believe, goes more in-depth in determining where a news source leans and why.
And finally, it’s all about us. I’ve said it so many times on this newsletter, but it bears repeating. After all, it is called “The Media & Us” right? If you want more serious reporting, demand it, look for it, and support it. These sources do exist and they would love your support. Serious journalism is not dead despite what is on TV. But do you prefer opinion shows and op-eds? That’s your thing, you do you. But if you’re saying news is dead and journalism is dead, while you watch TV pundits yell at each other or a celebrity be interviewed for their political opinion, your initial complaint is on you.