What should journalists do when the facts don’t matter?

Media historian Michael J. Socolow explores this rather bleak question for @ConversationUS. He argues that while not perfect, the American media largely did its job this year.

“Ultimately, the First Amendment protects the right of journalists to report, publish and broadcast, but it can’t force citizens to read, listen, absorb or learn. In that sense, journalism didn’t fail us – we failed journalism.”

https://flip.it/W3zSjG

How do you think the media performed? And tell us why in a reply.

#Media #Journalism #Facts #USPolitics #USElection #Trump

#MediaIndustry

  • James Wells@mastodon.acm.org
    1·
    4 months ago

    @[email protected]
    Yes, we failed by not caring what you reported, but you guys failed miserably by;

    1. Not treating Harris and Chump fairly. Instead you glorified Chump and vilified Harris.
    2. You gave Chump far more “air” time than any other president or presidential candidate.
    3. You let Chump spout 30K+ lies and did not call him out, instead you gave it bothsides lip service and moved on.

    How should we react when you have done that over and over and over again?
    @ConversationUS

  • Nomen Tantum@mstdn.plus
    1·
    4 months ago

    @[email protected] @ConversationUS Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is not moving me. On election night in my solidly middle class neighborhood, there were a dozen or so cars parked in front of one Trumper’s house for a watch party, not counting the other flag-bedecked homes. So yes, while the media failed in a number of ways, I doubt if even a flawless performance could have overcome the malice and really staggering ignorance of so many Americans. Like you have to be Einstein to compare world economies.

  • Semper@mastodon.sdf.org
    1·
    4 months ago

    @[email protected] @ConversationUS

    I think the media has paid gar too much attention to Trump giving him more importance and prominence than what was called for before he even became a candidate. He never lost the spotlight after leaving the White House. He is also escaping justice in the way no one before him has been able to. Yet, with all the media “scrutiny”, we have never found out in any significant detail about the state of Trump’s mental and physical health, for example.

  • Charles Herold@zirk.us
    1·
    4 months ago

    @[email protected] @ConversationUS The Times deep coverage of Trump could be good, but their day-to-day coverage normalized and sanewashed him. It’s the day-to-day impression that matters, not once-a-month specials.

    And every article criticizing Trump had to include a trivial Harris critique for “balance.”

    The press would still rather tell us what both sides say about the weather than look out the window. And their response to criticism is always, “why can’t you see what a great job we’re doing.”