Television vs. Print, and the Loss of Substance

There have been many great strides and advancements in the communication mediums of print and television. The television has gained unmatched power since its release in the 1950s; from programming and advertising, to even the quality of the picture that has changed from black and white to color, and now to high definition.

Print has stayed true, but has added flash, such as color pictures, eye-grabbing graphics, investigative pieces, and shorter, fact-filled stories; thanks to publications such as USA Today. Although the two seem to be competing with one another for the eyes of the American public, each has one thing in common. Each has sacrificed the substance of fact-based truth for entertainment and ratings as they have changed through the years.

Print media, more precisely newspapers, got their birth with the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press in the 15^th century. Jump to the late 1800s and the first advancement in newspapers came with the “penny press.” This made information accessible to all, at the low price of a penny. The “penny press” incorporated the art of interviewing and observing into the journalistic profession, and being more investigative when the time called. These practices carried on through the ages into today’s journalism. Another practice that evolved in the early days of American journalism was muckraking.

Coined by President Theodore Roosevelt to describe how journalists would go into the muck of society, muckraking was a time when writers went out into the American underbelly, and revealed the corruption they found. Journalists such as Ida Tarbell revealed the dirty practices of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil; Upton Sinclair, with his novel The Jungle, revealed the grotesque operations of the meat packing industry; and David Graham Phillips’ exposed the treason of the United States Senate. These and others all set a precedent that can be found in investigative journalism today. Most recently The Washington Post added its name to the list of influential muckrakers with its exposé on the horrid conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital for veterans returning from Iraq (Henderson 7-8). On April 7, the Post was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

Television also made great strides since its introduction in the 1950s. Although it entered the fray of media competition late, television became one of the most powerful mediums. Even in its knobbed, four-channel, black and white days, the populous of America received information faster than it ever had before. Journalists, such as Edward R. Murrow, who transitioned from radio, brought a sense of legitimacy to television news. These early pioneers stood for truth and justice, and worked for the public interest, much like their print counterparts. The years passed, and after a turbulent 1960s and 70s, the emergence of a new style of television came forth, where ratings dominate the interest.

The birth of hundreds of channels, multi-remote controls, high definition pictures, and 24-hour news channels brought the old cable media into a digital age. Such stations as CNN (Cable News Network), FoxNews, and MSNBC revolutionized the art of “broadcasting major events” (Harcup 5). The new ways of presenting news through the little box of wires formerly known as the television have changed greatly in the past fifty years (Henderson 18-19).

It is hard to debate that the leaps and bounds that the media has made in the past fifty years have greatly benefited the public. However, what can be debated is how the substance of truth, and the true calling of public interest, has been sacrificed for entertainment and ratings. William Hechton states in his book, The Troubles of Journalism, that journalism “plays a central role in modern society.” Hechten is correct in his statement, but one must wonder what type of role journalism is playing in today’s society. One idea is best stated by journalist Walter Lippmann. He says “most journalism is not about facts, but about the interpretation of what seems to be fact,” (Hechten 1). Newspapers all over the country are failing into this perilous trap of perceived “truth,” while some just fabricate complete lies.

One example can be seen in the case of writer Janet Cook, who won, and later had revoked, a Pulitzer Prize for a heart-warming story about an eight-year-old heroin addict. Why was her award taken away? Because in fact there was no child heroin addict. The entire story came from Cook’s imagination (Harcup 11).

Cook provides one example of how print media, and the media in general, are “failing their duty of truly representing the complexity of some of the most important issues in society,” said editor of London’s The Guardian Alan Rushbridger. The reason this is occurring is simple: news outlets have become parts of major corporations (Hechten 66).

An encompassing example of how the “news is controlled by conglomerates” is the Fox Corporation, which is owned by communications mogul Rupert Murdoch (Henderson 27). The Fox Corporation, more notably Murdoch, not only controls TV’s FoxNews Channel, but also print publications such as the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, and others. The fatal flaw that is made with this, and a cardinal sin in journalism, is placing self-interest above the public interest. In Murdoch’s “cynical and hypocritical disdain for responsible journalism,” he has put self interest, and the quest for cash, above the public’s interest (Hechten 63).

“Truth is crucial to understanding the role of journalism,” says philosopher Onora O’Neil. This appears true when reading Appendix I of the International Journalists Code, which states, “Respect for the right of the public to truth is the first duty of the journalist” (Harcup 2-14). Sadly, truth has become skewed in mainstream media, as the news is now no longer controlled by the public’s right to know, but by media moguls who place a higher priority on making a profit, than they do on serving the public (Hechton 57).

The power that the media possesses is great, but famous comic book writer Stan Lee penned it best when he inked, “with great power comes great responsibility.” The mainstream media must get back to what it is sworn to do, cover stories fairly and as unbiased as possible in the interest of the public. The way the media frames a story, especially now in the midst of a presidential election, is crucial to the continuation of this country.

The identifying of conservatives while applying belittling adjectives to them, while only serving the special interests agenda, as stated in the book Bias by former CBS producer Bernard Goldberg. Special interest gatekeeping, as well as the production of cookie-cutter news-such as each mainstream media having a voting district touch screen- must stop, and the focus of delivering truth needs to become priority one (Henderson 25-30).

The public’s interest must be placed above the interest of moguls and privileged few who currently dominate the mass media of such outlets as ABC, CBS, NBC, Time, Newsweek (Hechten 5). If not, then the mainstream media of today may one day devolve into the gossip columns and tabloids that dot the racks of supermarket shelves.