Simply Put, the US Mainstream Media Provides an Inferior Product
Frank Salvato
May 04, 2006
The prevailing opinion among the overwhelming majority of the American public is that there are some very big problems with the mainstream media. The most common problems noted are the unarguable existence of a political agenda and the elitist pose displayed toward the American public and those who govern. While I generally agree with both of these observations, I also believe, when all is said and done, that we are simply being offered an inferior product.
Recently, I was privileged enough to have attended and participated in a symposium put on by an organization called America’s Truth Forum. The symposium’s subject was the underlying roots of terrorism and the threat that terrorism poses to the United States and the world. For the sake of transparency I will state that Basics Project, the non-profit education and research initiative for which I serve as executive director, worked in conjunction with America’s Truth Forum to make the symposium a reality. Both organizations are non-partisan and non-political in nature.
The subject of terrorism is no stranger to the front pages of America’s newspapers and the lead story slots of the talking head news shows. So, when the nations leading experts on terrorism get together in Washington DC for a two day symposium – plus a debate at the National Press Club on the topic of terrorists’ nuclear capabilities – you would think that it would garner some interest by those charged with reporting news and events of interest to the American people, right? Wrong.
The only mainstream news organization to cover any aspect of this groundbreaking, foundational conferencing of knowledge between world renowned terrorism experts was Sinclair Broadcasting and even then they only covered the event at the National Press Club.
No member of the mainstream media was in attendance when former CIA Director James Woolsey spoke about the global threat of terrorism; or when Dr. Paul Williams spoke about the nuclear threat posed not only by Iran but by terrorist organizations supported by that country; or when former PLO terrorist Whalid Shoebat explained the mindset of someone so filled with disinformation they would strap on explosives and walk into a shopping district to slaughter innocent men, women and children.
But this symposium and the subject of terrorism’s origins aren’t the only things ignored by the mainstream media. The list of subjects passed-over includes important topics that are relevant to the American people today.
For two years now conservatives in Washington have been sounding the alarm about the looming crisis of an under-funded Social Security system. In the past, solid investigative reporting would have uncovered the facts on the imminent financial catastrophe facing the Baby Boomer Generation. Facts and figures would have been researched, checked and then double-checked before they were published – with pride. Today, the American public, for the most part, is left to disseminate the facts for themselves while the mainstream media spews agenda driven talking points supplied by special interest groups.
The same can be said for the ongoing debate over reforming the system of taxation in the United States. Each year around April 15th the mainstream media rolls out the “B Roll” footage of people standing in line outside the local post office waiting to file their income taxes. Meanwhile, there are several organizations and individuals that have legitimate suggestions for how to re-invent the tax system so that it is not only more fair but more efficient. Solutions like the FAIR Tax, the Flat Tax and the Graetz Tax Reform Plan have been offered as solutions to the current inequitable tax system, yet to many, the names of these initiatives mean nothing. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Can we attribute the lack of depth in today’s reporting to the two problems stated above? Sure. If the mainstream media were to have covered the terror symposium they would have had to acknowledge the true threat posed by terrorism and the mindset of those who use terrorism as a weapon toward the West. That would have debunked their politically correct agenda that supposes military action in Iraq and the Middle East was wrong. If today’s “journalists” were to spotlight the approaching collapse of the Social Security system and the ongoing need for tax reform they would have to rebuke their contention that President Bush is a drooling warmonger hell-bent on helping his corporate buddies at every turn.
But, I also think that a legitimate reason for the mainstream media being so dismissive to important stories is that they offer an inferior product; a product compromised by too much attention to the bottom-line and not enough attention to responsibility, honesty and objectivity. They may have the most advanced technology for delivering the news and the flashiest sets, graphics and promotional tactics; they may have scoured the earth for the “prettiest” people who can read Teleprompters and those with the most important sounding voices, but they have sacrificed their credibility at the altar of the almighty advertising dollar and because of that the public’s trust in the mainstream media is shattered.
An enormous amount of serious, verifiable and frightening information came out at the terrorism symposium in Washington DC last weekend, but you won’t hear about it in the mainstream press. Using the same misguided reasoning that removed the images of September 11th, 2001 from our newspapers and television screens, the powers that be in the American mainstream media have decided for you that the issue of terrorism’s threat to the United States, a threat that directly endangers you, your children and all who you love, is just too much for you to handle.
Besides, George Clooney was in town, they were bust covering that “terrorism expert’s” event.
Frank Salvato is the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He serves at the Executive Director of the Basics Project, a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(C)(3) research and education project. His pieces are regularly featured in over 100 publications both nationally and internationally. He has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, numerous radio shows coast to coast and his pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict.
Recently, I was privileged enough to have attended and participated in a symposium put on by an organization called America’s Truth Forum. The symposium’s subject was the underlying roots of terrorism and the threat that terrorism poses to the United States and the world. For the sake of transparency I will state that Basics Project, the non-profit education and research initiative for which I serve as executive director, worked in conjunction with America’s Truth Forum to make the symposium a reality. Both organizations are non-partisan and non-political in nature.
The subject of terrorism is no stranger to the front pages of America’s newspapers and the lead story slots of the talking head news shows. So, when the nations leading experts on terrorism get together in Washington DC for a two day symposium – plus a debate at the National Press Club on the topic of terrorists’ nuclear capabilities – you would think that it would garner some interest by those charged with reporting news and events of interest to the American people, right? Wrong.
The only mainstream news organization to cover any aspect of this groundbreaking, foundational conferencing of knowledge between world renowned terrorism experts was Sinclair Broadcasting and even then they only covered the event at the National Press Club.
No member of the mainstream media was in attendance when former CIA Director James Woolsey spoke about the global threat of terrorism; or when Dr. Paul Williams spoke about the nuclear threat posed not only by Iran but by terrorist organizations supported by that country; or when former PLO terrorist Whalid Shoebat explained the mindset of someone so filled with disinformation they would strap on explosives and walk into a shopping district to slaughter innocent men, women and children.
But this symposium and the subject of terrorism’s origins aren’t the only things ignored by the mainstream media. The list of subjects passed-over includes important topics that are relevant to the American people today.
For two years now conservatives in Washington have been sounding the alarm about the looming crisis of an under-funded Social Security system. In the past, solid investigative reporting would have uncovered the facts on the imminent financial catastrophe facing the Baby Boomer Generation. Facts and figures would have been researched, checked and then double-checked before they were published – with pride. Today, the American public, for the most part, is left to disseminate the facts for themselves while the mainstream media spews agenda driven talking points supplied by special interest groups.
The same can be said for the ongoing debate over reforming the system of taxation in the United States. Each year around April 15th the mainstream media rolls out the “B Roll” footage of people standing in line outside the local post office waiting to file their income taxes. Meanwhile, there are several organizations and individuals that have legitimate suggestions for how to re-invent the tax system so that it is not only more fair but more efficient. Solutions like the FAIR Tax, the Flat Tax and the Graetz Tax Reform Plan have been offered as solutions to the current inequitable tax system, yet to many, the names of these initiatives mean nothing. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Can we attribute the lack of depth in today’s reporting to the two problems stated above? Sure. If the mainstream media were to have covered the terror symposium they would have had to acknowledge the true threat posed by terrorism and the mindset of those who use terrorism as a weapon toward the West. That would have debunked their politically correct agenda that supposes military action in Iraq and the Middle East was wrong. If today’s “journalists” were to spotlight the approaching collapse of the Social Security system and the ongoing need for tax reform they would have to rebuke their contention that President Bush is a drooling warmonger hell-bent on helping his corporate buddies at every turn.
But, I also think that a legitimate reason for the mainstream media being so dismissive to important stories is that they offer an inferior product; a product compromised by too much attention to the bottom-line and not enough attention to responsibility, honesty and objectivity. They may have the most advanced technology for delivering the news and the flashiest sets, graphics and promotional tactics; they may have scoured the earth for the “prettiest” people who can read Teleprompters and those with the most important sounding voices, but they have sacrificed their credibility at the altar of the almighty advertising dollar and because of that the public’s trust in the mainstream media is shattered.
An enormous amount of serious, verifiable and frightening information came out at the terrorism symposium in Washington DC last weekend, but you won’t hear about it in the mainstream press. Using the same misguided reasoning that removed the images of September 11th, 2001 from our newspapers and television screens, the powers that be in the American mainstream media have decided for you that the issue of terrorism’s threat to the United States, a threat that directly endangers you, your children and all who you love, is just too much for you to handle.
Besides, George Clooney was in town, they were bust covering that “terrorism expert’s” event.
Frank Salvato is the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He serves at the Executive Director of the Basics Project, a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(C)(3) research and education project. His pieces are regularly featured in over 100 publications both nationally and internationally. He has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, numerous radio shows coast to coast and his pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict.
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