PHOENIX – Investigative journalism is on life support, real news is increasingly replaced with fluff and democracy is suffering because of it, a Federal Communications Commission member said Monday.
“Hundreds of newsrooms have been shuttered, thousands of reporters walk the streets in search of a job rather than walk the beat in search of a story,” Michael Copps said at a public hearing on the FCC’s report on media in the digital age.
His comments preceded three panels discussing the report’s recommendations at a session hosted by Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Copps, one of five FCC commissioners, said thorough reporting has been sacrificed as news organizations struggle to to deliver greater returns to shareholders.
“And every day, hundreds of reports and stories that Americans should be reading go unreported,” he said.
The FCC report, released in July, said the media is more vibrant today than ever and that the Internet has created more choices for content and publishing. The digital tools that have helped topple governments abroad are providing Americans powerful new ways to consume, share and even report the news, it said.
However, the same tools have cost traditional journalism 13,400 jobs in the last four years and left mainstream news organizations struggling to replace lost advertising revenue. Meanwhile, many Americans don’t have access to the broadband Internet that’s fueling media innovations, it said.
Nicol Turner-Lee, vice president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and director of its Media and Technology Institute, said the lack of universal access to broadband is leaving behind millions in under-served groups, particularly residents of rural areas, African-Americans and those with less than a high school education.
“That’s a problem if we are migrating our media to online,” she said.
Turner-Lee said the FCC needs to do make universal broadband access a priority in order to enhance diversity in terms of access to information, news coverage and media ownership.
Julius Genachowski, chairman of the FCC, said the commission is working to make broadband affordable and available to all.
“We must close the broadband deployment and adoption gaps in the U.S.,” he said. “Improving broadband infrastructure will drive our overall economy and will help inform and educate everyone in our country.”
Genachowski said the country’s democracy would be in peril if citizens don’t get local news and information.
The FCC report said democracy requires a healthy flow of useful information and a system that holds powerful institutions accountable. The most significant problem arising out of the digital revolution, it said, is the shortage of local, professional, accountability reporting, which can can uncover problems such as government waste and local corruption.
Leonard Downie Jr., former executive editor of The Washington Post and the Cronkite School’s Weil Family Professor of Journalism, said accountability reporting remains a high priority despite the continued shrinkage of traditional media outlets.
“The motivation is there even though the resources are lacking,” he said.
Downie said journalism schools across the country, including Cronkite School, are becoming important players in providing the news coverage.
The Cronkite School operates Cronkite News Service.
Steven Waldman, author of the report and senior adviser to the FCC chairman, said journalism schools can help plug gaps in accountability reporting.
“Citizens have to understand what’s at risk if you don’t have a strong accountability system and they need to be part of the solution,” Waldman said in an interview.
He said even though there seems to be more content, less reporting is being done.
“We don’t have a content crisis; we don’t have a news crisis; we have an accountability reporting crisis,” Waldman said.
Elvina Nawaguna-Clemente is a reporter for Cronkite News Service
Leon Ceniceros posted at 10:04 am on Tue, Oct 4, 2011.
"We don't have content crisis," = Are you kidding me (I would have used an old Army expression but this is a family paper)? Every Local newspaper in Arizona (maybe not the small town ones) is "liberal" in it's focus. How many thousands of Local Newspaper articles have we read that were negatively focused on Governor Jan Brewer (her 15 seconds of silence amoung other topics), Speaker Adams, Senate President Russell Pearce, Sheriff Paul Babeu and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Every Local Newspaper issue is a "feeding frenzy" of negative articles against these people and SB 1070 (that was approved by 60+% of the Arizona Voters by the way and the same percentage of all Americans in poll after poll after poll).
"...we don't have a news crisis;" = What news? We readers don't see any news we see the reporter's biased "take" on the news (about 3 sentences relating to the news, then 3 paragraphs on what we "should" think about the news. The reader has to go to the source to get the facts.)
"...we have an accountability crisis," = Accountability to whom? Certainly not the reader, if that was the case then the reporters "liberal bias" would be left at home and we would see "journalism" in our Local Newspapers, not "prejudices".
Don't believe me that our Local Newspapers are "Liberal".....then ask yourself...when was the last time that you read a negative article about anyone who wasn't a Republican or Conservative in any...any of our Local Newspapers ?
When was the last time that you read an article about a Democrat politician or a Pro-Illegal Alien politician or activist....that wasn't a......."puff piece" with an accompaning "smiling, attractive" photograph?
chatmandu002 posted at 12:24 pm on Tue, Oct 4, 2011.
Cronkite News Service keeping alive the liberal/progressive bias.
Arizona Willie posted at 4:21 pm on Tue, Oct 4, 2011.
Leon Ceniceros -- congratulations !!! You got it wrong again!!
You have an almost perfect record.
The Arizona Republic has ALWAYS been a conservative paper.
It has ALWAYS backed Republican candidates.
At one time it was actually named The Arizona Republican but they decided that was too blatant so they took the < an > off the end.
They have gone after certain Republican politicians because THEY COMMITTED THE MORTAL SIN OF BEING AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
Business WANTS illegal immigration.
Business interests OWN the Arizona Republic(an).
The Arizona Republic(an) exists in order to further business interests.
Prior to certain Republican politicians coming to their senses and realizing that illegal immigration is not a good thing for the country as a whole, only for businesses seeking cheaper labor, the Arizona Republic( an ) praised these people to the skies.
Arpaio could do no wrong --- until he did.
Brewer was the next thing to the Virgin Mary ... until she signed SB 1070.
And, when it comes election time, you can bet your house it will endorse conservative candidates.
You could probably count the number of Democrats the Arizona Republic(an) has endorsed on one hand and have fingers left. [sad] [sad]