How real, traditional, ethical journalism works

It may be rare given the demise of so much "mainstream" print media. But this is exactly how I was trained as a professional journalist, and why I still subscribe to print newspapers. And as a subscriber, this is supposed to be a link through the paywall. It is a long read, but worth it if you care about real journalism.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/chronicle-eric-swalwell-story-22208898.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2ZjaHJvbmljbGUuY29tL3BvbGl0aWNzL2FydGljbGUvY2hyb25pY2xlLWVyaWMtc3dhbHdlbGwtc3RvcnktMjIyMDg4OTgucGhw&time=MTc3NjY5MjU0ODU2OA%3D%3D&rid=NzhjYzRlM2UtNDBjOS00MmM4LTgyMTQtMzQ2YTVkZGEwZDcx&sharecount=MQ%3D%3D

Top | New | Old

ArishMell · 70-79, M

One big strength of normal publications is that they are not anonymous. They work from definite addresses, and they sometimes name the journalists of particular pieces.

Heartlander

@ArishMell TV (so called) news is a theatrical presentation.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@Heartlander It shouldn't be, of course, but it is too easy for TV producers to turn what should be serious bulletins into some sort of entertainment.

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@ArishMell @Heartlander It isn't just laziness on the part of TV producers. The FCC gutted its Fairness Doctrine requirements for broadcasters that used to require news departments/budgets be separate from entertainment, a minimum amount of news & community programming, equal time provisions, etc., to maintain a broadcast license when Cable TV encroached on broadcast stations. Then CBS created "60 Minutes" that they titled "news programming", and Mike Wallace crowed was "the first news program to make money". May that be his eternal epithet; it certainly was for the days of Edward R. Murrow and objective broadcast journalism.

Heartlander

A question that just popped into my head:

Should TV News even be thought of as "The Press", constitutionally speaking? If we can qualify what is and isn't a firearm that's protected by the 2nd Amendment, why can't we also qualify what is and isn't the press?

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@jshm2 I totally agree in most respects. The profession I was trained in, worked in, worked with, has been totally decimated by broadcast and internet stealing their product and distributing it for free, current generations gravitating to the "free" sources, the lost advertising and subscriber revenue streams, the need to cut costs which meant reducing staff, the list goes on and on.

But this article details how it still exists in a few remaining pockets.

Add a comment...