There can be no democracy without a free press.
Thomas Jefferson had it right two centuries ago when he said that “self-government is not possible unless citizens are educated sufficiently to enable them to exercise oversight”. It follows that purveyors of news must honestly inform the public.
Regrettably, too often journalists are not informing. They’re mixing facts with opinion and not sticking to the five Ws of responsible reporting—what happened, where, when, who was involved and why did it happen.
Opinions are useful but they must be separate from news. Jim Lehrer, who hosted a highly regarded daily news program on American television, had as his mantra, “carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories, and clearly label everything”.
It seems simple. Tell consumers what happened and why they should care. Of course, personal values come into play and objectivity is elusive. As anyone who has worked in a newsroom knows, the lineup of what stories are most important and the order in which they’re presented, are subjective matters. For example, in eastern Europe or Russia under communism a factory exceeding its production target may be deemed important while an anti-government protest is ignored.
In a free society there has to be some compatibility of what the media offers with what the public wants. Without this consumers simply turn away and go elsewhere for information.
Yawning gulf
Here in the States a yawning gulf has opened between the public and media. Five decades ago the three competing network news programs were regarded as accurate, credible and balanced.
In 1976 74% of American adults, according to Gallup, had a “great deal of trust” in the news media. Today that percentage has plummeted to 31%. Worse still, according to a 2024 Gallup survey, 36% of adults have no trust in our polarized − liberal versus conservative − news media. The survey finds that the news media has become the least trusted of ten civic and political institutions. Even politicians have a higher rating.
Events during the first Donald Trump administration and later the Biden administration response to the Covid pandemic widened the credibility gap. Media elites on the left, alarmed by a perceived threat to democracy, willingly expressed their anti-Trump views in news stories. Some defended this abrogation as appropriate because of a higher calling to save constitutional order.
After President Biden took office with the Covid pandemic raging in 2021, the new administration adopted a “we know best” mindset concerning vaccines, mandatory masks and school closings. News outlets were warned against publishing what the administration called misinformation about the virus.
Resisted
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admits that government officials asked that dissenting Covid views be removed from Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Zuckerberg says that while he resisted, he regrets not speaking publicly about it at the time.
Now, following Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris, some media outlets are acknowledging the credibility problem. In Los Angeles, South African-born Patrick Soon-Shiong, publisher of the L.A. Times, said what is increasingly obvious: “Trust in media is critical for a strong democracy.”
In fairness it is true that traditional news outlets are fighting for their survival. The industry has been profoundly disrupted by the internet and the rise of digital media. Revenue-rich newspaper classified sections have all but vanished as advertisers flee to online publications where costs are lower and the impact immediate.
Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism finds that since 2005 2,900 US newspapers − mostly weeklies − have shut down. Since 2008 27,000 journalistic jobs have been lost. News media employment is down 50% over the same period. This year, says the Medill study, on average two news outlets are closing every week.
But if newspapers are dying news reporting is not. Digital media has proliferated and is growing. There are more than 100 popular US-based digital news sites. Globally the most popular English-language news site, according to similarweb.com, is BBC with 986 million visitors in September. The Beeb is followed by MSN.com, CNN.com and NYTimes.com, all with more than 500 million monthly visitors.
In a nutshell, the public craves reliable, balanced, comprehensive news. Given today’s plethora of news sites people are confused, not knowing what or who to believe. Analysts say Artificial Intelligence will make the challenge even greater as images and voices can be easily manipulated.
There are no obvious solutions. All that can be said is, as former president Bill Clinton observes, “we must never forget that the free flow of information is essential to a democratic society.”
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR.
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