Media is in decline. We know we need better journalism and quality media, but there seems to be no alternative. Social media promised to keep an eye on traditional media’s misadventures. However, social media too has failed us. The reality of their failure is reflected in the state of our democratic discourse.
We are in an era where the general opinions of special people are given more importance than the special opinions of general people.
The tragedy is that the superficial opinions of famous people are given undue importance. Ask an actor about tax policy, or star athlete about inflation and that garners views. But it does not inform the debate. In another era, editors used to control these challenges and focus on informing the debates. Sadly, that era is gone. The media is broken.
Snob value of journalism
With the decline in the quality of writing, the snob value of journalism declined. There was a time you wanted to be seen reading NYT, WSJ or The Times, etc. It signalled a person who was informed, balanced in perspective and intelligent to make up her own mind about things. Some did not actually read the paper but were just content to be seen with it. Today, only some of the crossword pages do enjoy a snob value.
A broken business model
The old model of journalism relied on journalists to create circulation, and advertisers piggybacked on them. This model has died. The journalists no longer create circulation. They and advertisers piggyback on circulation created by the “infotainment department.” Journalists are cost centres, and advertisers are revenue centres, so when the going gets tough, you axe the journalists to keep the lights on.
The REAL journalists have long gone. What we have are performers. And as performers, they bend their delivery to suit their role. That is why comedians are on news channels getting more viewership than your news reports. There are more problems in this sector than can surely make a good book.
We have to devise a new business model.
Journalism is critical to democracy—let us be clear—REAL journalism is critical to democracy. We need a means to reinvent this business model. Frankly, I am at my wit’s end. I have been struggling with this problem since 2004.
I am looking for ideas.
How can we reward REAL journalists in their work? How can we get intelligent editors to sift through the news reports and highlight their relevance? How can we get intelligent commentators to scrutinise the society and lay bare the faultlines before they appear?
I’m not here with any answers Rahul… only an observation:
I appreciate that along with seeing and calling attention to this quite massive challenge, you are looking to craft solutions.
So many of us stop at the point of complaint.