Quote:
Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe
What do you think ?
Are the Media in general responsible, do they seek the truth, or do they do whatever they need to do , to get a story, whether or not the story is correct, accurate, or do they just focus on getting it on TV or to print, before the competition ?
They talk about the Public's right to know, freedom of the press, etc., but very little about the responsibilities of the press, to the public...almost as some would say...the trust that society needs to have in the Press to ensure that they actually do seek the truth ?
What do you think when they ignore cogent stories?
Your opinion.
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Mostly they focus on making money. In my opinion they do it in a short-sighted way that leads to a loss of credibility, which in turn eventually leads to a loss of profitability.
In newspapers it's been repeated around the country: new owner comes in, slashes staff, and increases the amount of advertising in the paper. Profits go up and stockholders are happy. But credibility eventually takes a turn for the worse, and the once-trusted source of local news becomes a local joke.
I once worked as a reporter for a paper where this was the case. One Saturday, a local kid was arrested for plotting to shoot-up a school in a city we covered. A serious cache of weapons was recovered. There was only one reporter on staff on the weekends and it happened to be someone who wasn't very good, IMO. This was a national story that attracted CNN, the NY Times, and just about any other national news organization you could think of. We ran an AP story about it even though it happened in our own back yard. To sum it up, we were a terrible newspaper and it wasn't a secret amongst our subscriber base.
I have no experience in TV media but when I tune into cable "news," I think I see the same thing happening. People like O'Reilly and Olberman have followings and sell ads (apparently), but I suspect they ultimately turn more people off than they attract.
I'm sure there are many reasons for the declining numbers of people who turn to traditional outlets for news, but a lack of quality product is a reason that looms large in my mind.
Maybe not exactly what you were asking about, but it came to mind.