Mastodawn

Leisureguy Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu - Spot-on about Anderson Cooper — his false dichotomy was so obvious it struck me as disingenuous if not dishonest.

I think journalists are going to have to summarize more — e.g., a radio report might simply be: "Mr. Trump spoke for 30 minutes, during which he repeated various statements previously proven to be false." And now, the weather..." etc.

@Leisureguy

That's part of it, yes.

https://presswatchers.org/2023/06/reporters-rushing-to-red-state-diners-need-to-rethink-their-goals/

Leisureguy Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu Froomkin has an interesting take on how to report on the current Republican party:

Reporters rushing to red-state diners need to rethink their goals - Press Watch

What's important is not what the Trump dead-enders say. What they say is gibberish. What's important is why they say it, and why they believe things that aren't true.

Press Watch - An intervention for American political journalism

Laloofah Jun 10, 2023

@Leisureguy
👇= 🎯

“The very existence of the other side is an extraordinary phenomenon that must be explored – and never taken at face value.

What’s important is not what they say. What they say is gibberish. What’s important is why they say it, and why they believe things that aren’t true.”

Frank Bennett 🇯🇵Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu As a news consumer, I've found one-on-one interviews to be informative. They remove the Nuremberg rally aspect of strongman performance, narrow the conduit for shit (even with a sympathetic interviewer—it has to come off sounding like a conversation), and pull in audiences from all walks because they're personal. Like, you know, a fireside chat. Authoritarians will be wary, so the key might be to not give them anything else? And you can apply across the board. To both sides.

Dave M🦫Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu I love your approach of “the stakes, not the race” and as much as I love NPR, I have to skip past the horse race reporting they still do 🤬

Anne Collier Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu SUCH an important conversation and question. HOW do they [journalists with integrity] cover the 2024 #election?!

@annecollier

Thanks, Anne.

Miles Offit... 🇨🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu Thanks for sharing. I've always assumed the issues are on the business side; perhaps sinister anti-democratic directives from ownership, or even organic problems with industry incentives, changing technology, failure to adapt to the public need quickly enough, etc.

IYO, are these issues primarily on the business side, or with the people that work in the industry? Are the producers, editors, reporters, etc prevented from improving the status quo, or are they incapable of doing so?

Miles Offit... 🇨🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu IOW is this closer to an unchecked capitalism problem, or simply an industry not evolving and adapting fast enough? Thanks.

@dcdeejay

It's complicated because all these things are operating on different levels.

Ownership wants to keep as many people inside the tent as possible. That breeds caution, as well as rituals like "both sides" reporting.

Still, news professionals do, I think, have a lot of autonomy in how they frame the news and select what to cover.

That autonomy is real, but limited too— by ownership.

For both journalists and owners changing tech has altered audience behavior— another huge factor.

Miles Offit... 🇨🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu Thanks Jay.

Chuck Darwin Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu
If Licht's "Absolute Truth" is unattainable we are all in some sort of silo.

Media COULD "Get Out of the MAGA Silo" (based on the dictum to "focus on Policies and Consequences"), but all rewards to corporate media flow from maximizing views -- so there's little motivation to quell the Flood of Sh*t.

I'd love to see media counter the Orwellian re-definitions of Truth, Freedom, Patriot that go unchallenged today.

Kevin Leecaster Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu
I think the way that the #FossilFools forced the media to treat climate science denial as being an honest alternate hypothesis primed them to now both sides the truth on all of the GOP's lies.

I have wondered for a while if Steve Bannon cut his teeth on sowing malinformation started in the profitable field of #ClimateAction delay.

Laloofah Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu I think your suggestion of discussing the issues, what’s at stake, and the consequences instead of typical “horse race” coverage was very insightful, and may well offer a solution, at least in large part.

@Laloofah

Thank you. Here is another alternative I have been recommending for years. https://pressthink.org/2018/11/election-coverage-the-road-not-taken/

Election coverage: the road not taken - PressThink

It's called the "citizens agenda" approach in campaign journalism. I know, dorky name. It was tried. And it worked.

PressThink

Laloofah Jun 11, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu Thank you for sharing this. I’ve read it & the comments on it & am still mulling it. Do you not think this is accomplished thru polls by news orgs (like those showing that most voters care about “kitchen table issues” & existential crises rather than things like “the War on Woke”?), or thru views & viewership, likes & shares on social media, etc?
Your piece reminded me of another that’s germane & was my intro to you & your work when Mark Jacob tweeted it 👍:
https://pressthink.org/2022/06/he-used-to-edit-political-stories-at-the-chicago-tribune-now-he-says-the-press-is-failing-our-democracy/

@Laloofah

😎

Jack Yan (甄爵恩)Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu That was really good, Jay. Calmly and succinctly delivered.

@jackyan

Thank you, Jack.

@jackyan

Thanks, Jack.

Tom Shafer Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu Well done. Thank you.

DeterioratedStucco Jun 10, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu
ChatGPT is going to make that not just easier, but an overwhelming tsunami of crap.

Doc Edward Morbius ⭕Jun 11, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu I just caught that episode last night. I know you've been on before, but didn't recognise your voice. It was the concepts you mentioned, specifically "not the odds, but the stakes", which I recognised from your posts here (https://mastodon.social/@jayrosen_nyu/110429999743689756).

Matter o'fact I think I'll give it a second listen.

Brooke's still good, but I do miss Bob.

#OnTheMedia #StakesNotOdds

ProtectiveHen Jun 11, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu It was great! Why is it so hard to ditch horserace for impact campaign reporting? I did it when I was a local reporter. They could ID key issues & do a piece on each one. Just DON'T write about "who is ahead." I also wrote about campaign $$$, which you never see dealt with analytically at the national level (which interests fund which candidates). Doesn't seem so hard to me to shift...

@bok_bok_ba_gok

I don't think anyone is arguing that it's so hard to ditch horse race reporting. Rather, it's hard to get journalists to do it.

Probably Paul Jun 11, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu Agreed. Creating a pervasive sense of uncertainty and confusion makes it easier to sell certainty and clarity, even if they're built on a foundation of lies.

@BarrenPlanet

Yeah, well put.

Rob LEACH Jun 11, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu the cover with shit approach is rife in the BBC too. This morning's news on Radio 4 led with a billionaire's soccer pets in Istanbul, then a fundamentalist Scots Nats politician complaining that people don't vote for 'people of faith' (though her party had just elected a Moslem as leader), then a threat by a Boris Johnson acolyte, and finally a direct quote by Trump ranting about the Dept of Injustice. Four shit stories in a row.

Rob Burke Jun 11, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu While CNN is “trying to figure it out”, CBSN, CBS, and PBS Newshour seem to have no issue reporting without the drama. People(me) are tired of the dramatic opinionizing of facts. I can also read about an issue on NYTimes, Economist etc in 3 paragraphs without the need for hour after hour cable news emotion. Forget about the Fox crowd. The minute you introduce an ounce of facts they will leave.

Frank Inserra Jun 11, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu I think the interview accurately assessed the problem presented by the “flood the zone” purveyors. You also succinctly captured my reaction to Anderson Cooper’s nonsensical sermonette ad well. Still, the answer with how to deal with “flood the zone” as a reporter seems elusive. So much of reporting and covering public figures depends on covering differing viewpoints of public figures, but those views must be expressed in good faith to be worthy of coverage. Perhaps there is no way to cover a speaker who is speaking in bad faith.