Fair Media Council CEO Jaci Clement says newsrooms now ask questions designed to confirm a story they've already written, not to find out what's true. Journalists use movie techniques like embellishment and reconstruction. Reporters cover beats they don't understand, stitching true facts into false narratives.
FMC Fast Chat takes you inside the news so you can be in the know in 30 minutes. Hosted by Fair Media Council CEO and Executive Director Jaci Clement, Fast Chat features notables in news, media, and business.
Hi, this is Jaci Clement, and thank you for being my guest today. I'm asking you to give me 5 minutes so we can talk on media and culture. And today's topic is questionable journalism. The thing about journalism is this: it relies on asking questions. And that sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Yet how a question is asked may actually determine the outcome of a story. And that's where things get messy, because journalism is all about following a story, not starting at the end and working your way backward. And And I realize this is a pesky detail, and one that may cause many a reporter to miss dinners and birthday celebrations, but the news actually needs to happen before it's reported. Maybe it's because today's newsrooms are placing an extraordinary emphasis not on being good journalists, but on being good storytellers. Some of the best storytelling comes in the form of movies and novels, where truth, if there is any, gets to be embellished, reconstructed, or altered. No harm, no foul. That's the way entertainment works. But these methods have crept into news talk shows and news commentary segments. And maybe it's due to organizations owning news outlets right alongside entertainment companies, and the line is blurring ever more between the two. Whatever it is, the art of telling the truth seems to be at odds with the modern media landscape. One key complaint by those who are regularly interviewed by news reporters has been trending upward for the past decade, and it's this: journalists calling with preconceived notions of stories, asking questions that only enhance the story as they have predetermined it to be. Guests on news talk shows are being given small windows to provide narrow answers the talking heads want to hear. It's a practice that has edged out real conversations that provide context and perspective. Analyses and commentaries that are short on facts and long on opinions are now quite commonplace, and while it fills up the airtime, it is also a spectacular reminder for the need of beat reporters and experienced journalists who know the subject matter like the back of their hands in order to pull together something worth the listen. As it stands today, the masses should consider themselves lucky to have remotes outfitted with that little mute button. But while empty commentary is an annoying waste of time, that's not the worst of it. News stories built upon false premises may be the defining characteristic of all that's wrong with journalism today. Individual facts within the story may be true, but how the story is strung together has nothing to do with reality. It may make for a great story, but but it's closer to fiction than it is to journalism. Part of the problem is reporters covering subjects they know nothing about. A bigger part of the problem is how commonplace this practice has become, needlessly damaging the reputations of both the subjects being covered and the journalism industry today. This is Jaci Clement. Thank you for listening.
The Fair Media Council is a 501 nonprofit organization advocating for quality news and working to create a media For more information about the Fair Media Council and upcoming Fast Chat shows, check out fairmediacouncil.org. This podcast is a part of the C-Suite Radio Network. For more top business podcasts, visit c-suite-radio.com.
