Declining reputation of Journalism

On 21^st May Amol Rajan (Editor of The Independent) wrote about the confrontations between Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly of Fox News. He made the point, quite rightly, that “..For a civilised society to advance, there needs to be a reasonably settled view of what we call facts: sequential events that we can all agree have taken place.” In saying this Amol Rajan attacked, again quite rightly, Trump's attempts to simply deny and/or ignore facts as we understand them. He goes on to identify that many (not just in the USA) do not believe what the News Media and Journalists in particular tell them. How has this come to pass? Moreover how on earth could a significant minority of people believe/support what Trump says? One could engage in a heavy discussion about truth and meaning in the philosophical sense but where I do agree with Amol Rajan is facts are important and that these are generally accepted events and happenings as well as scientifically based true representations of reality.

It is my view that much of the declining reputation of Journalism is due to two principal reasons: first the expansion of news presentation particularly 24 hour visual media together with the accompanying expansion in the numbers involved – paid and unpaid; and secondly much greater awareness by the general public of the distinction between fact and opinion – not always evident in News and Journalism.

The expansion of news presentation leads to competition for readers/viewers as revenues depend on audience numbers. Slightly different for the BBC but it is clear they still compete for viewers/listeners/readers. In the end News has to be sold! The visual media demands/requires attractive presentation and time constraints which work against rigorous analysis and accuracy . This is a diversion from truth telling and reporting things as they are! The myriad of players (they all term themselves as Journalists but whether they are depends on what they do). Reading the news does not make one a journalist even if you have been trained it should be much more than that! I certainly do not claim to be Journalist only a mere commentator with life experiences. The expansion has seen people pursuing their own stories sometimes admirable stuff sometimes celebrity voyeurism. This expansion therefore leads to confusion as to what is Journalism and what is no more than gossip. It also diverts attention away from the seeking of truth and rigorous analysis.

The absence in much of the media of a clear distinction between fact and opinion has also contributed to the decline in the reputation of journalism. Sometimes the Journalist cannot help themselves particularly if they are “reporting” politics. How often have we heard, “..the agenda has now moved on...”; “..the issue is now...”. It is likely that these ideas were input from an external source maybe sometimes in the media and sometimes from a politician. Remember the old adage: “Just because you say it does not make it so!” Which brings us back to Trump. Don't give up Independent, New York Times, Economist, Washington Post. Trump is an ignorant, loud mouthed, egotistical and dangerous opportunist and while the political elites in both the USA and Europe have much to answer for Trump is not the answer more a nightmare for reasonable discourse.