Its only 37 seconds. . . But in that 37 seconds it encapsulates everything wrong with journalism in today's 24 hour news cycles. Here is the 37 seconds in question.
Even though an apology was issued shortly after this report, it still doesn't excuse how in the world that these obvious bogus names made it past so many people and made its way to a teleprompter for the newscaster to read aloud across the airwaves. So the question remains. How did this happen? But a larger question of why is the moral outrage pointed toward the NTSB summer intern that gave KTVU the information?
The names of Rather, Koppel, Brokaw, Jennings, and Cronkite today are held as the gold standard. Today the names of O'Reilly, Hannity, Hume, and Limbaugh rule the airwaves. But compare the two sets of names, and what stands out? Yes the second set of guys are indeed, right wing "pundits". But what they represent is why you are seeing the gaffes, and misinformation that permeates the news airwaves today.
Even though Fox News, and Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck will tell you they are "pundits", the psychological underpinnings of their channels of broadcast suggests to you otherwise. "Fair and Balanced" and the "Most Trusted Voice in News" are the underpinnings of the Fox News channels, KTVU being one of them. Even though they tell you they are not really 'anchors' they are "pundits" they pass themselves off as true news casters. Then you look at the first names I mentioned. . . These are the men that we turned the television on to watch every evening to find out what was happening in the world. They reported news that was true news, fact-checked, and verified. They built a trust with the American populous. And psychologically, you knew that when Rather, or Jennings or Cronkite said something on the airwaves it was truthful and honest.
So given that most of us grew up with the news as it was, these next set of guys inherited that trust by default of being on television and being on a news channel. So what did they do with this trust? Watch below.
Even study after study has concluded, that Fox News purposely misinforms its viewers. But most realize that they are doing this with pushing their agenda of Right Wing Conservatism. But what they have truly done as well intentionally or unintentionally is help usher in this era of News Journalism, that shoots first, shoots some more, shoot, and shoot, and ask questions later, then issue out an apology.
Fox has paved the way for the smaller news organizations to be gung-ho, and no holds barred in their pursuit of being the first to report, and to be the exclusive news organization in the attempt to get the viewers from clicking the remotes to another station. The biggest example of this was CNN's epic fail during the Boston Bombing events.
So why is this rush to be the first so important? Short reason. . . Money! I would like to say that all of this is an Orwellian plot to dominate the world, or a script fit for a Hollywood movie, but unfortunately its about Ratings! Cause in the news world, the bigger ratings you have, the more butts you have sitting in front of the TV watching your show, the more butts your show is getting the more the big conglomerate companies want their commercials on your show, the more money you get.
So what Fox News has done is take the old inside journalism joke of "Never let the truth stop a good story" to the extreme. And in return they have showed that truth in journalism is unneeded, and report sensationalist stories that may or may not be true and you will get butts in front of the TV and watch your programs. As witnessed by their constant boasting of how they destroy other "news networks" such as MSNBC and CNN.
So unfortunately its going to be more and more common place that reports like this will happen. So with that I will give you a breaking news exclusive right here and now. . . JOURNALISM IS DEAD! And I am afraid, its never going to come back. As long as big money is to be made and ratings is put ahead of true news reporting. . . Sum Ting Wong???? You better believe it!!!
