Last Friday Les Zaitz, the editor and CEO of Salem Reporter (our town’s digital-only news source), gave a talk to the Salem City Club with the surprising title, “DON’T trust the media!”
But what Zaitz meant by “media” is an expanded conception that reflects the fractured media landscape now. The day is long gone when Walter Cronkite would say at the end of his evening network news program, “And that’s the way it is,” followed by the date of the broadcast.
These days, the way it is depends on what media source you’re getting news from. Fox News may have a different slant than MSNBC, for example. Those are both traditional news outlets, though, staffed by professional journalists with solid credentials.
The media Zaitz doesn’t want us to trust are the non-traditional news sources. He singled out blogs and podcasts as examples of untrustworthy purveyors of what’s happening in a community, state, our nation, or the world.
Since I’ve been blogging since 2002 and currently have three WordPress blogs, HinesSight (this one), Salem Political Snark, and Church of the Churchless, I got a bit annoyed by Zaitz’s oft-repeated advice to be wary of blogs and podcasts. Many bloggers and podcasters operate as I do: either communicating information directly known to them as accurately as possible, or communicating information from traditional media outlets.
A big difference between blogs and podcasts, and traditional media, is that the former add an informal first-person perspective to a subject. This also can happen in traditional journalism, but not nearly as often. It’s much more the exception than the rule. So I think Zaitz was unduly critical of blogs and podcasts. Some present high-quality interesting information to the public; some don’t.
After all, it isn’t that traditional media occupies the journalistic high ground, at least not according to a poll Zaitz cited. Only 28% had good or fair trust in national media. In the Watergate era, it was 72%. There are large differences by political affiliation: 51% of Democrats, 27% of Independents, and 8% of Republicans gave the national media a good or fair rating.
So while I trust both our local traditional journalists at the Salem Reporter and Statesman Journal, along with national media like the New York Times and Washington Post, most Americans don’t — at least when it comes to national media. Zaitz said surveys show that Americans trust local news sources more.
Zaitz explained what guides journalists. Reporters want to get facts right. They can’t hide from their work, so they put a lot of effort into fact-checking. They’re committed to fairness. Government officials are given an opportunity to challenge facts before publication. Zaitz said he wouldn’t try to get at what “truth” means, but Salem Reporter can deliver facts.
He quoted the familiar adage, a lie travels halfway around the world before truth puts on its shoes. Zaitz said that today the task of bloggers and podcasters is to influence how you think. They don’t subscribe to the same ethics as traditional journalists, though they do subscribe to the First Amendment (free speech). They’re free to peddle lies, Zaitz added.
As noted before, I think this is overblown, in that Zaitz basically painted all bloggers and podcasters with the same brush. Sure, some try to mislead the public. Some are as accurate as the mainstream media. It just depends on the individual blogger or podcaster.
These days all kinds of people express themselves through non-traditional outlets such as substack. Scientists, journalists, entertainers, authors, historians, to name but a few. When I started blogging several decades ago, the saying by A.J. Liebling, “Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one,” inspired me.
The way I see it, traditional media are akin to the vegetation that is the foundation of a natural ecosystem. Just as browsing animals consume the vegetation, and carnivores consume the browsing animals, the facts disseminated by traditional media outlets become the raw material of bloggers, podcasters, and others who now have the freedom to share news and opinions in their own way, on their own platform.
To me, this is a good thing. The American public seems to agree, given the popularity of podcasts. Blogs, I have to admit, are much less trendy — a quality shared with traditional media.
Zaitz said that Job #1 of traditional media is to regain the trust of the American people. Why? Professional arrogance. Journalists and publishers claiming that they know better than you.
He wants all of us to be informed consumers of news and information.
Watch language choices, especially inflammatory language. Are they telling you where information came from? Look for named sources; anonymous sources can be problematic. This doesn’t apply to opinions, but opinions shouldn’t be based on false information. Be wary of social media: “The more I scroll, the more depressed I get.” Trust your own judgement.
Give feedback to local news outlets. Reach out to them. Zaitz said, “We can’t walk or turn away.” React. Don’t stay silent. Speak to government officials, to friends, to neighbors. Don’t give up.
All great advice. I heartily enjoyed what Zaitz had to say, even if I didn’t agree with all of it. Zaitz got a well-deserved standing ovation from the City Club audience at the conclusion of his talk.
Discover more from Hinessight
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.