JOURNALISM IN AMERICA

Dear George...Perhaps Ted Koppel meant the Press as Gatekeeper in a good way, but print and television news over the last sixty years has ceased to 'serve' the People in favor of serving greater advertising dollars and far too many governing in public office who more and more, are extreme. 

In my 55+ neighborhood we are not members of Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation" -  we are their offspring - known statistically as Baby Boomers.

Boomer-Babies began arriving in 1946 [Harry Truman was President] after men returned from WWII and women returned from factories. Bundles of babies continued to arrive at the rate of about 4,000,000 a year for eighteen years until 1964 [Lindon Johnson was President].

In total 76,000,000 Boomers invaded this nation triggering an explosion of schools and housing construction through three decades from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. 

Well into the 21st Century Boomers are now aging at the same pace we arrived, but still relevant. Well--as of 2019--71,200,000 of us were never the less taking up considerable space and still consuming and voting, though the stats for 2020 may show a significant drop in our numbers.

Regardless, Boomers remember when President John F. Kennedy was elected and assassinated and when, to our horror, the same fate ended the life of Martin Luther King then Robert Kennedy. Boomers were the free-love Flower Children of Woodstock with its marijuana infused music as an escape from so many college riots, Watergate, civil injustices and the Vietnam War.

Boomers went to college in greater numbers than any generation before. We navigated a major social shift provided by the birth control 'pill' and ironically protested at the same time for safe abortions. We marched for the ERA - equal pay for equal work...Something females still don't have. But, these events and hundreds more since our years in school have been relegated to the pages of the history books our grandchildren read. However, we not only lived those events - we remember them vividly. 

Okay - so how you ask - does any of this relate to Journalism in America?  It relates to how investigative journalism has become smear, rumor and innuendo journalism. Because as kids, teens then young adults 'we' remember a time when journalism wasn't theater for TV ratings or print sales. We remember when journalism could be relied upon to include facts in reporting. We remember a time when liable laws and ethics kept spoken and printed speculation in check. 

Perhaps Boomers remember too much making us an inconvenient witness to mid-century history and too much news we recognize as openly slanted. The last noble act by our Fourth Estate was Watergate - most everything since is in doubt.

The Boomer generation also has a highly developed ability for critical-thinking which causes us to question the motives behind contradictions from one news segment to the other. In 1971 Judge Gurfein stated; "A cantankerous Press, an obstinate Press, a ubiquitous Press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the greater values of freedom of expression and the right of People to know." [But not an inconsistent Press.]

Further lending an even greater responsibility to the Press itself for their privileged place in our First Amendment - Justice Hugo Black later wrote; "The Press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the People. Only a free and unrestrained Press can effectively expose deception in government."

But:  WHO CAN EFFECTIVELY EXPOSE - DECEPTION - IN THE PRESS?

The last five years media so openly hostile and biased as to fervently report [repeatedly] prejudicial and unverified accusations that tiptoe across slander laws. [Example: the melodramatic attempt to block an appointment of Brett M. Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kavanaugh had such an exemplary personal and professional record that desperate smear-hunters had to dig all the way back to an obscure party from his high school years - to charge him with a single created accusation by one person whom Kavanaugh vaguely remembered as attending his old high school.] 

Question: where was CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS or PBS during the Benghazi hearings? State Department staff lost their lives in a brutal attack - but Hilary Clinton's arrogant dismissal of events didn't earn the same intense circus coverage as Stormy Daniel's narrative. And - where was the New York Times or The Washington Post investigative reporting when thousands of Hilary Clinton's Classified State Department emails ended up on the personal laptop of convicted sex offender Anthony Weiner?  Just asking...And regardless of your political party leaning - you might ask too.

Like Trump - don't like Trump makes no difference...I get that most of Trump's Tweets have been well beyond cringe-worthy. Then too his unscripted remarks [eg. Rocket Man] cause us to shake our heads until we're almost dizzy. Regardless, it's the Office-Of-The-Presidency and Voter-Rights at the heart of our Republic to which, open Fourth Estate attacks only work to 'serve' far too many of the governors like the majority seated in our 116th Congress.

People with the ability for critical thinking can only guess at how that media loyalty is made worth while in order for so many radio and television networks and print news associations - to continue to compromise their First Amendment responsibility. What is the significance of that hidden value?

One would expect that not all journalists agree with their producers, editors or publishers. [I spoke up to my Life-Style Editor when I wrote for the Calgary Sun and lost a job I dearly valued.] WeThePeople should be able to rely on the ethics of an individual journalist.  When NBC viewers listen to the reassuring voice of Lester Holt - whose predecessor was Brian Williams caught exaggerating his experiences - we wonder. Then what happened to CBS Anchor Jeff Glor? Was Glor too conservative so abruptly replaced by Nora O'Donnell whose liberal views stepped in line with executive decision makers?

I have noticed that of the six major television news networks FOX is balanced the best, featuring both liberal and conservative guests not even remotely considered on ABC, NBC, CNN, CBS or PBS. Even so, FOX's Tucker Carlson can get carried away and every bit as passionate as CNN's Jake Tapper or Chris Cuomo. However, at least People can tune into FOX and then perhaps PBS to maybe hear both sides of an issue. [Every voter should be seeking their news information from more than one source.]

Going forward...Voters can push for a First Amendment insert in the form of a Standard Clause that: no member of any Press be allowed to either endorse or oppose any candidate seeking public office. [Simply report accurate documented facts - evidence, not hearsay.]

The Press isn't protected by our First Amendment to function with impunity...

Newspaper publishing of The Pentagon Papers was almost compromised by a longstanding social relationship of Washington Post Publisher, Katherine Graham [and her late husband] and America's then Defense Secretary, Robert McNamara [and his ill wife]. The Press in partnership with Politicians creates a conflict of interest by which objectivity - stands at risk.

What news media does too often now is 'feed' People a version of the truth from media perspective - as media see it. But partial information still creates mass ignorance that if the masses knew - the masses could make more informed decisions. [Or is that the point?] Releasing only some of the information some of the time is still a lie - massaged by a Press that only seem to hold conservative People accountable.

A healthy economy needs a balance of small, medium and large business to support and employ People. A healthy republic needs a balance of both liberal-social programs and conservative-corporate profits.

At this crossroads how does America turn present toad-journalism into a fact-prince that serves the People for which it was originally intended? With public pressure that process must come from within by principled publishers, editors, producers, field journalists and news researchers - who care.

In the meantime People can call and/or write their state and federal representative, because many politicians have been misquoted and/or misrepresented by journalists. In newspapers and on TV make note of the advertisers then call or email them with your concerns, threatening to 'not' buy their product if the network or newspaper doesn't put facts before creative-writing.

It is the 'job' of every citizen of every free nation to ensure their nation remains free - and to do that - The People need to patrol the activities of journalists and those elected to serve in public office. People can stop print and electronic Press from using innuendo, slander, rumor and barefaced lies as legitimate news - replacing it with plain, simple facts and restoring the Fourth Estate to the respected profession it once was. 

https://medium.com/@BraveNewFilms.org/heres-how-to-contact-all-535-members-of-united-states-congress-call-email-tweet-20b8a1c54195

*Sherrie Todd-Beshore is a mystery suspense novelist and former journalist... 

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