Arguably, the three biggest challenges in America right now are high unemployment, the lack of sensible energy policy, and rising healthcare costs. All of these issues are complex; solving them requires a well-informed public that can make reasonable decisions that benefit the public good. Informing the public is the role of the traditional media, but they are failing miserably, with dire effects.
To illustrate, here are some quotes from the New York Times and Meet the Press over the last few weeks:
“Republicans have set the terms of debate by pressing for large cuts in federal spending, which they say will encourage private investment. Democrats have found themselves battling to minimize and postpone such cuts, which they fear will cause new job losses”--The New York Times, June 2, 2011
"The companies estimate that the boom [from new oil drilling] will create more than two million new jobs, directly or indirectly, and bring tens of billions of dollars to the states where the fields are located, which include traditional oil sites like Texas and Oklahoma, industrial stalwarts like Ohio and Michigan and even farm states like Kansas."--The New York Times, May 28, 2011
“This play has been run time after time. If you go back and look at the quotes from President Clinton back when he needed to win re-election, they sound a lot like the quotes from Democrats today about don’t let those Republicans take away your Medicare. The difference is that the debt is bigger, the deficit is bigger, the gap is bigger, and the situation is more dire. But I think that, sadly, the lesson of New York 26 is “mediscare” works.”--Ruth Marcus on Meet the Press, May 29, 2011
In the first quote, The Times presents as equivalent two views on the effects of cuts in federal spending, one put forth by the Democrats and the other by Republicans. But the fact is that one position is entirely wrong, and anyone with a shred of common sense or a knowledge of basic economics should recognize this. Cutting federal spending leads to job losses. There is no dispute about whether this is true. In addition, corporations currently have record amounts of cash on hand; the notion that somehow they will decide to invest if the government slashes spending and decreases employment makes absolutely no sense. In fact they are waiting for increased demand before they invest their capital.
The second Times quote simply repeats a claim made by the oil and gas industry without any analysis whatsoever as to whether the claim has merit. In fact, the notion that increased offshore drilling could lead to two million jobs is absurd and no independent analysis predicts job gains even approaching this number. If the oil and gas industry promised everyone their own unicorn if more drilling were allowed, would The Times simply repeat their words?
Ruth Marcus’s complaint about Democratic attacks on Ryan’s Medicare plan is perhaps the most depressing of the three quotes. The Ryan plan would exchange guaranteed benefits for a voucher that will not keep up with healthcare costs, and will lead to pronounced medical insecurity and higher costs for seniors. This is simply a fact. That Ryan and the Republicans still call their plan Medicare, and claim that destroying the program is actually saving it, doesn’t make it so. Any reasonable analysis must conclude that the Ryan plan ends Medicare as we know it.
We cannot solve our problems and retain our global leadership unless the citizenry understands the realities we face. A compelling case can be made that people who routinely watch cable news and read our most prestigious newspapers actually become less informed from the coverage.
This is especially frustrating because better reporting is not extremely difficult. Fact-checking the statements made by politicians and interest groups, and grilling them on the false claims they make, is what real journalism is all about. Unfortunately, our traditional media has become increasingly lazy, incompetent, and irresponsible, and American society is suffering tremendously as a result.
There are still some examples of good reporting in the traditional media, but overall the best reporting is now done on blogs and new online media. No wonder viewership for major newspapers and TV news is down.
By far the biggest beneficiaries of the death of the traditional media have been the Republicans and their corporate backers, who have come to realize that they can wantonly lie and spread disinformation without being held accountable. With no incentive to tell the truth, they simply make stuff up as they go along; no matter how outlandish, the media simply act as stenographers and report it. This puts progressives at a huge disadvantage: not only do they need to make an affirmative case for their causes, they have to fight back against the tremendous amounts of disinformation that clogs the airwaves and newspapers.
It is a monumental task only made worse by the media’s obsession with the sensationalist and superficial over the substantive. Case in point: when Nancy Pelosi decided to talk about jobs and the economy instead of the controversy over Anthony Weiner’s sexual indiscretions, the major networks simply pulled the plug and switched programming.
This is no way for a free society to operate. We face serious challenges that will require major policy decisions; trillions of dollars are at stake, to say nothing of the health and well-being of all citizens and our ecosystems as well.
What can we do? We can contact traditional media outlets and complain about their poor reporting. We can create our own blogs. We can direct our friends, families, and coworkers to trusted and reliable news sources. One way or another, we can all play a part in creating a media culture where facts are respected and falsehoods are consistently denounced.
Jason Scorse