1 world, 2 different media galaxies
I need someone to tell me what’s happening. Not a tinted version of events but what’s really happening. I make the request because mainstream (if there is such a thing) news outlets seem to fundamentally disagree about what’s important.
A week ago, the top story on the Fox News website, complete with video, was rioting in west coast cities on the anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s death — a dozen or so arrests, vandalism, clashes with police. Sounded like a pretty big deal.
In the interest of balance (if there is such a thing) I went to CNN’s website. No mention of the riots.
As I write this, CNN’s top story is “Russia targeted U.S. elections in 2020.” This story is “breaking news” so it must be important. The subhead reads “An intelligence report identifies Russian efforts aimed at denigrating Biden and helping Trump.” The story is based on a U.S. intelligence report that also indicates “Iran carried out a multi-pronged covert influence campaign intended to undercut former President Trump’s reelection prospects.”
Back to the Fox News website. Crickets on the election story.
You can see the problem. We have two, U.S.-based, international news organizations that appear to be operating in their own alternate universes.
Surely, news organizations, covering the same country, should at least be able to agree on the big stories.
I deal with students everyday who will submit what they think is a news story which, in reality, is nothing more than an opinion column. Why? Because what’s being marketing by news outlets and what’s being consumed is often an amalgam of news, commentary, analysis and predetermined narrative. Is it any wonder an 18-year-old doesn’t know the difference?
You would think that with approval ratings only slightly north of the local parking authority, news organizations would feel some sense of urgency to restore order.
It will take some hard work and self-awareness for news organizations to admit that we’re doing this wrong.
Rich Manieri is a Philadelphia-born journalist and author. He is currently a professor of journalism at Asbury University in Kentucky. You can reach him at manieri2@gmail.com.