"One might have thought that the television industry, with its history of rapid adaptation to technological change, would have become a center of innovation for the next radical transformation in communication. It did not. Instead, the United States is arguably more isolated and less educated about the world than it was a half-century ago. Full Story »
Posted by Russ Wellen
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This is a must-read article from someone who spent many years in broadcast journalism, and explains clearly and with detailed examples how our "news" organizations have slipped into irrelevance, or worse, tools of propaganda. If we as Americans want to actually have access to the truth, instead of being spoon-fed pre-digested pablum and distracted by celebrity stupidity, we need to pay attention. That's why this article should be required reading across the country.
Hockenberry, a former news person at NBC, describes what he witnessed while working on "Dateline." He chronicles incident after incident in which NBC brass not only opted for entertainment over hard news, but made no attempt to make use of or understand emerging technologies, like the Internet. Almost all of the story is first-hand.
If you want to know how TV news lost its way, read John Hockenberry's piece. It features complete context, relevant personal anecdotes, an experienced voice, and a thorough look at technology's role (or lack of it, or resistance to it) in TV journalism trends. Extremely insightful and forward looking.
This was one in a series of lessons I learned about how television news had lost its most basic journalistic instincts in its search for the audience-driven sweet spot, the ... More »
Yes, because it IS a first hand person account; however, such exposure is way past overdue. Anyone with half a brain left knew long ago that Newton Minnow's comment that 'tv is a vast wasteland' was correct in 1961 and nothing has changed. As Michel Franti wrote in 1991: "One nation under god has turned into one nation under the influence of one drug (chorus) Television, the drug of the nation Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation T.V., it satellite links our united states of unconsciousness apathetic therapeutic and extremely addictive the methadone metronome pumping out 150 channels 24 hours a day you can flip through all of them and still there's nothing worth watching T.V. is the reason why less than ten ... More »
Simple, if long, personal witness and analysis of mainstream (television) news. One wonders how different editorial policy for print media really is, if at all. Excellent piece.
More evidence that the MSM doesn't get it and perhaps never will--this time a former correspondent at Dateline--now working at the MIT Media Lab, details what it's like trying to practice real journalism at the networks...
A fascinating, if biased piece that exposes what the author sees as a lack of commitment to journalistic principles in network television. However, i don't think he integrated the technology aspect in particularly well.
The stories and examples the author chooses are effective in being unsettling. I'm interested to hear more on the technology and his philosophies on that specifically, but I'm not sure if that would be good in this piece or another entirely.
Great article pointing out everything that is wrong with the old media and why they are in such decline.
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