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Sept. 27, 2004 It is probably a symptom of our times that nearly every US newspaper in addition to several magazines has had a section on bloggers and independent websites after an acknowledged “star” was caught not just looking imbecilic but also exposed for his lack of objectivity and fairness with relation to reporting the news. In the run up to elections in the single most important nation on earth it was clear that a major television channel allowed the pet prejudices of it’s editorial staff and reporters to not only cloud their objectivity but also to allow someone to use a forged document to try and influence public opinion against the incumbent President. The expose by an independent lawyer has focused the wrath of the media, both print and television on independent and free websites with a vindictiveness that could only be seen as the result of the established being shown up as dunces with all-knowing pretensions. I have worked as a radio interviewer, columnist and editor in the past and the CBS/Rather incident has, in my opinion, shown that the media as it is today needs more attention focused on it. For too long, journalists have gotten away with lecturing governments and people on what they should do instead of reporting on what is happening. Business and economic journals advise governments and politicians on how to run the economies of whole countries, political columnists advise the elected leaders of countries on how to discharge their duties and sports columnists who would be unable to move any part of their bodies other than their fingers on a keyboard faster than a healthy 8 or 9 year old advise champions in several sports on how to play their game. The whole media scenario is a ridiculous one of inconsequential non-entities who are capable of doing little more than fill a page with half convincing arguments on a limited range of subjects usurping upon themselves the roles of nation keepers, builders and leaders. The other side of the coin is as dark with the media’s self generated soot as the first one is. Recent opinion polls have shown that a full 55% of people in the USA do not trust the media at all. Even among the rest, if there were a way of measuring this, the surveys would show that trust has fallen. I talked to a friend in Malaysia yesterday about this and mentioned the well known fact that pen pushers cringe from, that the most read section in most newspapers is the sports section followed by the astrology section, the gossip section and the letters to the editors. The least read is the editorial page. While I suggested that the editorial page was probably read only by politicians and bureaucrats, and, to a lesser extent, by academicians, my friend asked me why I even thought that anyone really read most editorials. This was from a pressman with some 40 years of experience and the breeding that came from being the son of one of the most eminent columnists in that country. I know, too, that he might not have said this to someone whom he did not know as well as he knows me, or, to a member of the public. The incident exposed not only the fact that journalists can and do make extremely serious mistakes, it exposed the fact that many have personal agendas that they seek to promote with a viciousness that even politicians are loathe to show. Dan Rather is just the latest journalist to be exposed pushing a personal agenda. Half a year ago it took an enquiry by a senior judge to show that a BBC correspondent and his superiors in London pushed an agenda that cost the life of a scientist and expert on biological weapons. The BBC, in my personal opinion redeemed itself by purging itself of it’s ideologues and pamphleteers. What CBS will do is yet to be known, and, it’s decision, whatever it is, will reflect on the media at large. But the Rather incident is just one major faux pas by a journalist that has come into the public eye. People may talk of Jason Blair, Andrew Gilligan and others as well, but there are journalists and articles that defy common sense being released every day. Two or three weeks ago, a writer in the New York Times’ Sunday magazine wrote (half apologetically, to give him some positive credit) that the USA should “get over” 9/11. When one notes that the owners of The New York Times are Jewish and they belong to a community that suffered horribly not just down the ages but specifically during the Holocaust, it is difficult to understand how they could allow someone to trivialise the suffering of the families of 3000 people who were killed on that horrific day. Pause to think for a moment and it all falls into place - the NYT has an agenda. It supports a leader contesting the elections openly and every time 9/11 comes up, that leader’s ratings suffer. It has to trivialise the atrocity that took place on that day to boost it’s pet candidate’s ratings. Does this sound mercenary? Yes it does. Is it shameful? In my opinion it certainly is. Do I have a personal agenda? Yes, I do, and this is what it is: A Korean newspaper recently started the revolutionary process (for a newspaper) by buying news snippets directly from the public without using journalists to do everything as the rest of the media does. It pays people who report incidents a fixed amount for news depending on whether this is local or neighborhood news, breaking news on major issues etc. It is an honest admission by the editorial staff of the newspaper that neither they nor their reporters know everything and that they need to learn more every day just to keep going. It is also a refreshing admission that journalists are no more infallible than other any human being, and that pen pushers are no more than people doing a job. The Superman pretensions of some star journalists would probably be threatened if such a system became universal, but the entire profession would be redeemed in the eyes of the public if they became just a little more honest about their own abilities. In the long run, that, perhaps, would be the factor that saves what little reputation the mainstream media has left and allow it to build up on this slowly to a point where it is a focus of respect among knowing people instead of admirers who compare journalists’ paychecks with those of rock stars and rappers. People may, eventually, even start reading the editorial pages instead of merely buying newspapers for the sports news and shopping coupons. ------------ About the author Mehul Kamdar: I am a former editor working on his first work of fiction with the caring support of his old dog and young wife in the beautiful little town of Appleton, Wisconsin. I hope to complete my book within the next three months and then look for a publisher. Twenty years after I started my career, it feels nice to start all over again! Email: mehul@mehulkamdar.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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