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The Sterility of Stereotyping the Media: Response to Smith and Maitre
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10326 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1993 |
1,005 Words |
| Author
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Lou Prato
Lou Prato, a former university journalism teacher, is a
broadcast writing consultant and freelance writer who has
written extensively about radio and television news. |
Whenever one criticizes the media on grounds of bias, misrepresentation, or any other ethical or journalistic lapse, care should be taken not to be too sweeping in scope. Blaming the generic "media" for the sins of a few is often more egregious than the specific transgression itself.
Professors Ted Smith and Joachim Maitre make some valid points in their essays, but readers should concentrate on the specifics of their complaints and not indict an entire profession or medium.
The journalistic perversions at Dateline NBC and 60 Minutes certainly tarnish all newspeople, even those anonymous hard-working folk far from the New York network headquarters in the cornfields of Iowa or the snowy vistas of Alaska.
But there are thousands of responsible, principled, and trustworthy journalists working in television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. They should be respected and appreciated for the traditional and objective journalism they practice every day as a matter of routine, and they should be acclaimed whenever their work is exemplary. The performance by the local broadcasting and print media during the 1992 Florida hurricane and the 1993 Midwest flooding is proof that responsible, honorable journalism still exists.
It is counterproductive for anyone attempting to make journalists more accountable and more virtuous to tar the work of the entire profession. That can only intensify the "us-versus-them" atmosphere that pervades the media and deters many journalists from conceding their mistakes or indiscretions.
Similarly, one also must be judicious when continually complaining about the media's liberal bias. "The media" is not monolithic. Despite what some conservative critics may believe, there are plenty of journalists who do not subscribe to a particular political doctrine, and there are many others with the integrity to subordinate their personal beliefs to their professional responsibilities. CNN's Reid Collins, ABC's Brit Hume, and NBC's Tim Russert are TV network types that come quickly to mind. There are thousands of others much less known.
Yes, a liberal bias exists throughout the media, as Professor Maitre assiduously points out in his well-documented article. There is more widespread acceptance of that premise today among the media themselves than there was in 1964, when Goldwater Republicans made it a cause célèbre at the GOP convention
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