Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy.

• Author: Dudczak, Craig A.

James Fallows, editor of U.S. News and World Report and National Public Radio commentator, begins this critique of media with a chapter entitled "Why We Hate the Media." The litany of concerns address journalistic ethics, the subordination of policy issues to political issues, as well as a growing indistinction between journalism and entertainment, among others. In the ensuing chapters Fallows illustrates a (wholesale) set of media practices which diminish the public's respect for the media as an institution while contributing to a less informed and more cynical public view of civic responsibility. While Fallows' critique is not entirely novel, his position as a mainstream journalist warrants our consideration. The consequence of diminished journalistic integrity is a more poorly informed citizenry who becomes increasingly alienated from participation in the public domain.

Broadcast media accounts for an ever increasing proportion of the "news" we receive. Yet, one may fairly ask "how accurate is this news?" Perhaps this is an impossible question as Fallows recognizes that journalism cannot be conducted absent a slant or point of view. But the process through which journalism is conducted diminishes its perceived impartiality if not its actual accuracy. And it is the process through which journalism is increasingly conducted that should give us pause. What are these processes and what implications do they carry for the population at large and students of argument?

One issue which emerges is a focus on news "celebrities" at the expense of serious journalism. This occurs because the celebrity journalist relies upon others to do the serious legwork necessary and only "parachutes" in for the camera interview. Much like the William Hurt character in Broadcast News, news broadcasters serve as actors in the role of reporter rather than journalists reporting their stories. Mainstream news shows such as 60 Minutes employ "the fundamental act" of journalism - "the interview." But these interviews are presented absent the background of the story; they are based only on the appearance of what a journalist is supposed to do. In a word they are an "act." Fallows explains the fundamental problem:

The star journalist who is working from briefing papers and a set of proposed questions is an actor rather than a real interrogator. He lacks the background to ask the right follow-up questions or to recognize when the person being interviewed has said something...