Just finished the latest season of Slate’s “Slow Burn” series, entitled “The Rise of Fox News”. There were a lot of stories and instances that made me angry, honestly too many to list here. But the thread that runs through the whole season, and I don’t even know that they meant for it to, is the idea of “news” not being about news anymore.
It’s about ratings and audience share, and all of the things that we talk about when we discuss viability of television shows. One of my favorite old-man-yelling-at-cloud personalities is Tony Kornheiser, whose podcast I’ve listened to for almost 17 years. He has two sayings that always stick with me:
- (When referring to sporting events) In the end, “it’s a television show!”
- The answer to every question is always: money.
TV “news” is about just that: A television show that’s there to make money. To the detriment of its audience, the very industry it serves, and the American people as a whole.
We don’t have facts anymore. We don’t have agreements on basic ideas anymore. Every idea, every statement is up for grabs. Up for interpretationtion. Something to be “won” by either side.
The utter disservice that Fox News (and all the others that followed their lead) did for the wider news audience is inexcusable. The last episode described several producers, who helped Fox News during their rise, lamenting their part in where we are today. They have a message board discussion, a group therapy if you will, where they ask each other “What Hath We Wrought?”
This. The state of discourse in this country is what you hath wrought.
1 + 1 does not equal 2 anymore. For every person that says “2”, you’ll have 3 more that will scream “Bias!” and proceed to tell you it’s 3. Congrats on your career, guys! Appreciate it!
We have to have news outlets that do what they purport to do: relay facts as they are and not inject opinion and agenda. Money has bastardized this profession. How do we get it back?
