So there was pretty much a formal, official “Coup Headquarters” in D.C. Yep. There was. You say that’s over the top? Then what would YOU call it?
I’m wondering. What business identifying and branding phrase did the receptionist use to answer the phone?
Whether Facebook continues to call itself Facebook or elects to change its name to, say, Nancy, it may be time to shut down that Kaffee Klatch. “Why do YOU care whether I’M vaccinated?” The Stupid. It hurts.
OK. Evidence to the contrary aside, I actually did pay attention during my now 47-year (and counting) career in American Media. Here’s another excerpt from the Journalism Handbook I used to distribute to my news staffs.
How hard is this, anyway?
Very. Extremely. And it’s only going to get harder. Let’s not kid ourselves. This is the most difficult period in American journalism history. No hyperbole. We can’t run from it. We have to understand it and embrace it. Truth has never been more important. We are currently operating in medical, social, political and economic chaos. That is not going to change anytime soon. Our society is fractured, polarized and tribalized as never before. Each “tribe” has invented its own Post-Fact World in which it has granted itself the license to reject any established fact it finds inconvenient, and embrace any proven falsehood that advances a “cause.”
In reporting objectively verified truths, we will be criticized and attacked from every point on the compass. Biased audience members will accuse US of being biased. It will be frustrating. It will be fatiguing. We will press on, cheerfully. To cite the basic tenet of media law, “Truth is the ultimate defense.”
Facts
Require no “balance.” Facts ARE balance. If, for example, we interview an eminent astrophysicist, we are under no obligation to also put a Flat Earther on the air in the name of “balance.” All opinions are NOT equal, or equally supported. And “opinions” never counter, rebut, refute or negate established facts.
“BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY”
Is a misnomer and a flawed concept. There are rarely if ever two and only two sides of a given story. Our job is to report all legitimate sides of a story. That’s not easy. But, that’s OK. We don’t do “easy.”
Tomorrow
How the media landscape and business model has changed. That’s not all bad. But it’s not all good, either.
2 Responses
“Truth has never been more important.” Oh really? Says who? The fact is we have so many people defining “truth” that it is very hard to convince our audience that we dwell in FACTS and not opinion. How many times have I heard, “I have an alternate source of information” when reporting on vaccines? You do NOT believe Dr. Fauci? Dr. Wallensky? WHY?? The answer is often, “They have an agenda.” Says WHO? The FACT is it is hard to convince anyone these days of the FACTS or the TRUTH of a story. People believe what they want to believe. Convincing people to recognize truth (I want to hear the other side of the “Rain is Wet” story) is the biggest challenge facing those of us in the media world today.
Concur. All journalists of integrity can do is to keep “pounding the rock” of facts. It can be exhausting, and disheartening. But we must persevere. “What else you gon’ do?”