An American Media Manifesto

A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature.

If the media could live up to its published ethics standards, I would be a satisfied citizen. The ethics standards are published at the end of this article as a link.

If Ted Turner could deliver on his goals after his bruising battles to make CNN and TBS recognizable, I would be happy. His version of history is published at the end of this article, also as a link.

Recently, Ted Turner has even given a speech that says journalists ( mostly CNN types in his case) should hold no allegiances, period. We are all morally equivalent, as I listened to him. American flags in the background are only appropriate to American media.

Last on my Ted Turner fixation, he is admirable in many ways. But when he puts his latest main squeeze on TV news, he is mixing business with pleasure. He is almost as bad as the Playboy fellow who still plays with girls who are his grandaughters age, and still thinks and sells this as normal. When do such moguls begin acting their age?

Then there is the government funded news reporting, as opposed to government controlled news reporting. Dictatorships practice government controlled news reporting. Most American news businesses are profit oriented and not government funded. It is a business with a business plan or model. It is sink or swim, and we have seen some sink. How some of the news businesses gained government funding both BBC-style and USA-public-broadcasting-style is another history. How these organizations keep getting government funding is also another history.

And all I want is to know the news: world, national, and local.

The term main stream media (MSM) is a derisive term these days in America. It was not made up by opponents; it was historically earned by those in the MSM. Obvious frustrations by citizens who just want the news include: selective coverage that seems based on political parties, selective coverage based on the reporters or their producer or editor’s politics, selective coverage based on what will sell best, and selective coverage based on convienience, budget, and wartime exengiencies that soldiers routinely live with. In other words, not the news. Along the way integrity violations have appeared. This is a career stopper to most of us.

Perhaps the problem is us, the USA and our society. Perhaps our communications connectivity as a society has made us more like a democracy than the republic we are, constitutionally speaking. Maybe quickie news and polls are challenging how representatives are guided as our leaders. I hope not. Our political leaders must act in our national interests, not the interests as suggested by the lastest instant report, or poll.

Perhaps my frustration is part of this time in history that I live in, and the post WWII baby boom influence on history and societies. My perceived old time standards of the media reporting just the news, mostly from an American and western point of view, may be wrong, naive, or both. The old time standards of separating the front page from the editorial page, and knowing the differences and why, seem forgotten or ignored. Today’s news reporting appears to be some flash in the pan from news academia, news businesses, and just spoiled and protected Americans in the news businesses that are inflated by their present day power and influence.

Protection, by the way, does not extend to protection from unethical, ill informed, and biased reporting. We can vote with our feet as to what we read, listen to, and watch.

Having been a Marine, complaints require a proposed solution. Don’t bitch without proposing a solution.

Here is my point of view and suggestions to improve today’s situation, that is to make things better. By better I mean we being more informed citizens. I don’t mean kissing the tail of reporters, editors, and producers. And I don’t imply the American cultural predeliction to try legislate or dictate a perfect world. We all know that will never happen.

The industry must require all media types at the reporter, editor, producer, and business manager level to sign the published ethics standards, and post their signatures on the internet. I would define media types as anyone who publishes news. All editorial and opinion writers and TV pundits are also media people, and would have to include a “discloser” statement that this is opinion, not simple facts.

Establish a career professional education program like the military’s. In fact, include media types in the various level military schools at an appropriate level to make them more subject matter trained for those that report military news. Media businesses must educate their up and coming types, or do an up and out method for world, national, and local media types.

Establish a clearing house on the Internet that posts all media type’s resumes, experiences, and educations. Just give me, John Q Citizen, another tool to evaluate what I am reading or hearing or seeing.

All of the preceding can be summed up as letting us know about the ethics, education, and training of the person doing the reporting.

Let me expect that some will not go along with this. This will be another decision factor for us in deciding what to read, listen to, or watch.



Media standards of conduct: http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp

Ted Turner’s history of his startup: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0407.turner.html