10 ways for political media to fix their failures
Here’s a special expanded edition of Media Misses after a campaign full of missteps.
In a special pre-Election Day edition of Media Misses, Steven Beschloss and I suggest 10 ways for journalists to repair their failures in political coverage:
1. Stop platforming proven liars.
2. Don’t be a stenographer.
3. Stop obsessing about polls.
4. Describe the stakes of things.
5. Stop being distracted by trivia.
6. Speak truth to power.
7. Do instant fact-checks using video.
8. Don’t assume impartiality is the highest value.
9. Write clear, direct headlines — stop vague-posting
10. In a democracy, the press has a responsibility to sustain it.
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Thank you for spelling out how our media have been failing us in such clear terms.
What needs to be drummed into students in journalism schools is that there is no such thing as pure "objectivity." Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle shows us that to measure something is to change it. Heisenberg, of course, was talking about quantifiable measurements in laboratories. Just think how much more applicable his principle is when it is applied to what a journalist does in trying to paint a picture of an event in words.
The first rule of journalism, rather than attempting to be objective, should be to pursue the truth. It is that pursuit that matters.
Once again, well worth my time and great reminders of what the Fourth Estate should be doing. Thanks