Don Surber says that if news organs want to regain trust, they need to drop the editorials.
The quickest way to salvation -- to convincing people that you are a trustworthy source of news -- is to get rid of the opinions.
Newspapers need to stop telling people what to think. Junk the editorial page. Get rid of the editorials, the editorial cartoons and all the columnists.
This might help a little, but I think it misses the main problem: so-called news outlets have already turned their news reporting into editorials; they're still propagandizing, and in a far more effective and insidious way. Junk the bias in the reporting, then you start getting somewhere.
Btw, I don't see it happening.
The dinosaur media are already waist deep in the tar pits.
ReplyDeleteLet 'em go.
The media is dominated by high-power personalities who need the clickbait and outrage that editorials give them. Plain old news doesn't do that. So, yeah, they aren't going to give it up to their detriment, because the internet has given other voices the same kind of power.
ReplyDeleteAs I thought about this, I figured out why my first reaction was so negative.
ReplyDeleteEditorials are, occasionally, honest opinions or at least transparent attempts to build a narrative.
If the media wants to start rebuild/build our trust, the very first thing, after firing everybody at THE NYTimesWashPostCNNABCCBSNBCETC., they need to stop using adjectives.
Especially "controversial ", "embattled" and "far-right."