The News Problem

Since long before the founding of the United States, the printing press was the primary means by which literate people decided their vote for a politicians and public policy referendums.

People have come to depend on the news media so much for their daily lives that owning a major newspaper meant you had more power than the government because you could make or break politicians.

The newspaper’s original free market model was entirely based on the quality of the product. There were no advertisers and the newspaper was allowed to survive based on its pure appeal to subscribers. Much like the original newspaper model, cable television once upon a time also had no advertising and was entirely subscriber based. Today, Internet service is supported by subscription to the telecommunication companies.

In the free market phase, the media is a product that relies purely on its own quality to sustain itself. A news organization should survive well in a society where affluence and literacy abound.

An appealing product of information should be easily produced in a society which is taught in a regimented and homogenous manner. An audience educated with proper critical thinking skills should require only facts with which to make decisions.

News was produced that only affected the daily lives and futures of its subscribers.

The current trend toward gentrification of literacy, by raising tuition at private schools and state colleges, the closing of public libraries by cash-strapped cities like Springfield, the shielding of teachers and administrators from Freedom of Information Act requests, is changing the course of society’s future.

Once news organizations began to depend on advertising for survival, they began to shift their appeal toward those who would advertise rather than those who would read or watch. The continued positive messages about the stock market and economy leading up to the banking collapse in 2008, and the continued positive messages about economic recovery during the current recession is one example.

The once-respected news organizations by virtue of only their continued circulation, present ideas that are of no real value to anyone, but which are perceived as being valuable merely by their presence on the printed page or television. The use of the word “popular” became more frequently necessary, as does the subtle presentation that someone or some thing is popular.

The perception of integrity and journalism has shifted from presentation of facts, to speculation and hyperbole. Reporters who adapted were kept employed while those who did not were eliminated or rejected. Media personalities who could garner the highest ratings through pure emotional appeal are paid the highest.

The owners of media decided who gets employed. The potential for an editor to gain employment may depend on how close his or her ideological agenda matches that of the owner. One might claim that an editorial board makes decisions, but how is the board selected?

Suddenly, the Internet became declassified and accessible to the public. The media “gatekeepers” no longer control the flow of information. There is no one to edit or censor communication, and everyone can research for themselves, the stories they are told.

But nobody has time. Everyone is too busy to recognize their livelihoods being gradually eroded away through subtle distortions in their values.