Is This the End of Legacy Media?
I am a trained journalist, though I currently do not practise it. You cannot imagine how much it breaks my heart to see journalism being dragged through the mud as a result of the unethical practices of (Western) legacy media practitioners in contemporary times.
The basic elements of journalism include truthfulness, accuracy, fairness and impartiality, and respect for others. Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel would elaborate on these in The Elements of Journalism. According to them, “Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.” Given that the public depend on information to make decisions, the truthfulness of media output is paramount; the truthfulness of information is what makes it reliable. Yet, truth is not attained on a whim but through a rigorous process that involves sorting out the necessary details of a story. According Kovach and Rosenstiel, truth is what sets journalism apart from other forms of communications.
Second, “Journalism’s first loyalty is to citizens,” which means that journalists’ allegiance should be to citizens. They must, therefore, put the public interest above self-interest.
Third, “The essence of journalism is a discipline of verification.” Verification involves employing objective methods to consistently test information. Beyond that, Kovach and Rosenstiel felt verification also means not adding anything that isn’t there, never deceiving the audience, and being transparent about one’s methods and motives. A result of verification is accuracy. According to Kovach and Rosenstiel, “In the end, the discipline of verification is what separates journalism from entertainment, propaganda, fiction, or art….”
Fourth, “Journalists must maintain an independence from those they cover.” This means that journalists must rise above ideological biases (such as gender, race, and religious biases) in their work. To Kovach and Rosenstiel, even those who work in the field of opinion, criticism, and commentary must adhere to this tenet.
Fifth, “Journalists must serve as an independent monitor of power,” which means that journalists (and the media in general) must be society’s watchdog, monitoring government and powerful institutions.
The other core principles of journalism that they discuss are the following:
· Journalism must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
· Journalists must make the significant interesting and relevant.
· Journalists should keep the news in proportion and make it comprehensive.
· Journalists have an obligation to personal conscience.
It is sad to witness how journalists have over the last few years turned their backs on these core principles of the profession. Today, most journalists are self-serving and will publish anything but the truth so far as it benefits them in one way or the other. As a result, they have abandoned their role as society’s watchdog and have become mouthpieces of powerful people and institutions that sometimes work against the public interest.
A typical example of the legacy media’s unprofessionalism is what was in full display a few days ago (13th July, 2024) when US Former President Donald Trump was nearly assassinated at a rally in Pennsylvania.
The headlines of Western news organisations were nothing but egregious. Instead of informing the public about exactly what had happened, the news media disingenuously put out the following headlines obviously with the aim of undermining what had happened because they do not like Trump and wouldn’t want to report accurately about him, lest he gains some public sympathy:
· CNN: Secret Service rushes Trump off stage after he falls at rally
· Los Angeles Times: Trump whisked off stage in Pennsylvania after loud noises rang through the crowd
· The Washington Post: Trump escorted away after loud noises at Pa. rally
· NBC News: Secret Service rushes Trump offstage after popping noises heard at his Pennsylvania rally
· USA Today: Trump removed from stage by Secret Service after loud noises startles former president, crowd
· MSNBC: Secret Service: Donald Trump safe after popping sounds heard at rally
· The Sunday Denver Post: Gunman Dies in Attack
This demonstrates the media’s blatant abuse and misuse of the power vested in them. What they don’t realise, though, is that while some members of the general public trust them unquestioningly, most of them can see right through them and are tired of this kind of manipulative behaviour. This was made clear by some X (formerly Twitter) users who expressed disdain at the media in response to the display of unprofessionalism in their reportage of the aforementioned incidence.
“The media is the enemy of humanity,” a user with the handle @Bubblebathgirl said.
“You do not hate the mainstream media enough. Not nearly enough. They are the enemy of the people,” another X user with the handle @CashLorenShow proclaimed.
“The Legacy Media has lost any shred of credibility they had left,” @PlanetOfMemes, another X user said.
X user with the handle @dissidentwest also noted, “Daily reminder that you don’t hate journalists enough.”
With such kind of unprofessionalism rampant in the legacy media, it is no wonder their credibility keeps on waning and many now prefer to get their news from alternative sources such as social media where citizen journalism thrives. Here is what some people had to say regarding this issue:
“X is the only place I go to for news! Can’t trust any other “news” source,” X user with handle @BigImpactHumans said.
“The mainstream media can not be trusted,” another X user with handle @jared_vastine said.
“@x is my primary news source,” @here4elon2 said.
It is clear that if the legacy media continues to tread this path of unprofessionalism, very soon, they will become obsolete and they’ll have no one else to blame but themselves.
