Don't Change the Channel. Change the System.

Media critic Eric Boehlert recently summed it up, "Virtually all the corporate press does these days is shallow, polling-based horse-race coverage, and now it can't even get that right." We've all had it with the way elections are covered. We've had it with vapid television news. And we've had it with Groundhog Day-like mea culpas.

Mainstream media -- especially television -- is like an alcoholic that keeps binging, repenting, swearing sobriety, and returning to the bottle. Problem is, it's the American public that's getting poisoned by their lethal stew of horse-race election analysis, celebrity gossip and soundbite coverage. We go to the voting booth -- a right that people fought and died for -- knowing very little about what the candidates actually stand for. And you can forget about any information on candidates like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, whom the press has shut out of the debate -- literally.

While Wolf Blitzer is throwing softballs at another candidate, Bill O'Reilly is blaming every problem on liberals, and your local news anchor is reporting on a car wreck, we are left without a clue about the issues that count. We don't know if the president's "surge" in Iraq is actually working. Or if the recent skirmish between U.S. warships and Iranian speedboats is a real incident or a Pentagon PR stunt. And what are the real implications of China's $1.4 trillion trade surplus that increases by $1 billion every day? Or what important decision was made by your City Council or school board last night?

Before you shake your head and say that TV doesn't matter in the age of the Internet, consider this: According to a report recently released by the Pew Research Center, local TV stations remain the No. 1 source of presidential election news. Cable TV news is second; network TV news is third. TV continues to completely dominate as the opinion leader in American politics.

But at some point you need to stop throwing your remote at the TV. Going outside and yelling that you're "fed up and you're not going to take it anymore" isn't working, folks. It's time to understand what's really wrong with the media and what's really needed to fix it. One word: profits.

You can dress up a cash cow and make it look like a news operation, but at the end of the day, they're milking the information lifeline that nurtures our democracy.

TV newsrooms are not run by journalists. They are run by businesspeople that operate with a simple formula. Cut out expensive-to-produce investigative journalism, documentaries or long interviews. Get a couple of talking heads to yell at each other and create good "theater." Pretend that a blue dog Democrat and a far-right Republican represent the range of debate and "fairness." And of course, keep moving to the latest breaking news -- celebrity or criminal (or preferably both) -- leaving out any important context or deep inquiry.

After all, why spend time and money reporting on the issues when you can boost the bottom line by making the candidates pay top dollar for access to voters? TV stations sold more than $50 million in campaign and "issue" ads in Iowa last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence. In 2004, Iowa spending was around $9 million. The same report said that U.S. spending on campaign and issue ads for all current races -- presidential and others -- reached $715 million by the end of 2007. That's serious money.

It's nauseating when you think about it. Elections -- the centerpiece of democracy -- have become so steeped in money from special interests and the wealthy that the constitutional notion of one person, one vote has become a historic footnote.

The only solace is that we may have finally reached a moment of clarity. We finally see why there is still a giant tax loophole that allows private equity executives to game the system out of an estimated $12 billion per year. We see why Congress can't pass reasonable automobile fuel efficiency standards, while the icecaps melt and natural disasters escalate. We see why the middle class continue their slide into poverty, as the disparity between rich and poor grows to levels not seen since before the Depression. And why there are 47 million Americans without health insurance.

These facts are not merely the result of an abominable administration. I wish it were that simple. It is a lethal brew of profoundly broken electoral and media systems that must be fundamentally reformed -- and fast.

For media, that means rolling back ownership consolidation, so that TV and radio stations and newspapers are owned by people who represent the broad diversity of America and live in the communities they serve. It means strengthening non-commercial media outlets like PBS, NPR, low power radio and community television channels. It means investing in universal, affordable Internet access and breaking the corporate bottleneck on distribution, so that any Web site can have the reach of a TV or radio network.

It means creating a media that provides every American with a megaphone. It means reclaiming a truly free press.

Comments

[Cathexis]

Spot on, Mr Silver!

[mamacat]

How often do we get to see the issues discussed, even a little bit? After a Pres. is elected, we can expect the next 4 years to be policy implemented without much attention to what the voters want, except for the midterm elections.
As frustrating as it is to see the media making up the news, there is still some actual questioning of what the issues should be and of positions on them. The candidates, at least some of them, look like they are actually trying to figure out what is important to the voters. Unfortuneately, some of the candidates are trying to tell the voters that they should care about gay marriages, flag burning, and a national English language law, instead of the war, the economy, health care, education, infrastructure, global warming, the deficit, and a fair tax structure.

[realitytrumpsbull]

Um, does it matter how good the 'coverage' is if the essence, the substance of the debates is itself barely fluff and sunshine? They've radically overspent the federal budget, and tomorrow they're expecting I think over a 500 point drop in the DOW. How's that going to sit with 'investors'(suckers)? Not well, I would imagine. Bust these people out, ask em money questions, find out What's Really Going On, and what kind of dope they were smoking when they wrote their policy papers...so far the only sober party I see seems to be Ron Paul...can I vote for him as an Independent?

[RTIII]

I've been saying these very things for a long time now - GLAD to see them in an article!

[ljsfolly]

How many great men would have become anything had they had to acquire the massive amount of money required nowadays to get into any position of government or business? How many would have failed just because they had no ivy league diploma? The media has failed us for as long as it has been in place. They used to tell us what we were supposed to know. What was released as ok by our government just look at roosevelt and the wheelchair. Keenedy and the women. We has for a time open press when nixon went down and it was good to be open and honest. Then bill had his women and he was fair game. Since then we have gone back to only what we need to know and then it's only if the media thinks we care or not. The Iraq/middle east war has gone away while the elections are here. Whe britney or someone else does something crazy then they are front page. The world can continue to die off and hit critcal mass with the ice caps melting but who would know as that isn't what the media wants to write/tell us about. The killer of bhutto has gone the way of bin laden without any kind of fuss. no one has the attention span nor the concern to call the media out on these things. Sad we have laws about truth in advertising but the politicians can tell lies and stretch the truth and the soldiers can die and the ice caps melt and no one has the story...

[Merlin7]

Change the "profit system?" Fat chance. That's what the FCC was for, to provide some protection to the public. But corporations use their huge profits to buy politicians and co-opt government and unions, so the corporate/government consolidation continues unabated.

[WilliePilgrim]

If one looks around one will find that the model for elections that we use or abuse here in the US is NOT the only model. We could for instance have the campaigns shortened to just 3 months and limit political debate to CSPAN or an other non-corporate profit obsessed outlet and have it paid for exclusively by the profits from selling FCC broadcast licenses...but I don't suppose you'll hear anything like that from the big hair google eyed "journalists"...ha ha...love that word "journalists"...especially in little quote marks to distinguish it (maybe the only thing to distinguish it) from the actual kind of journalism in which the intellect instead of the gag reflex is stimulated.

[provgrays]

You're right about the media, but it's up to voters themselves to find out as much about candidates through a broad range of sources as they can.

This means turning the idiot box off and picking up good books, magazines and newspapers. It means discussing candidates with people you respect and doing your own research.

We know that mass media exists for its own financial enrichment. The rest is up to the voter.

[inkabinkaboo182]

Here's a solution, and guess which presidential candidate proposed it:

A system in which the people get to vote on certain legislation that will be introduced to Congress, and if it gets enough votes from the people it will go right into law. It's called the National Initiative, and systems like it are already in place in many states, but not on the national level. It will be an extra check in the system of checks and balances, and this one will be controlled by the people, making American more democratic than any other country on Earth.

Guess which presidential candidate proposed it, the only one with a real solution to this country's political problems.

Mike Gravel. MIKE GRAVEL!

I like the man for three reasons - his honesty, his perseverance, and the National Initiative.

[graffen48]

Thank you Mr. Silver for presenting the issue, along with solutions to the problem. It's refreshing to see someone write about a serious issue, and not just leave it at that, but actually provide intelligent solutions to the problem. Its funny about the political ads because I don't know anyone who takes any of them seriously. You really hit the nail on the head as far as the media showing us meaningless stories over and over and over again!! A couple days ago , everytime I turned on CNN, it was the same murder story over and over again the entire day!! And how can the same story be "breaking news" all day?? I guess it saves CNN tons of money if all they have to do is hit the rewind button on a useless story and cover 10 hours of broadcasting with it.

[texanna]

Federally-funded elections. That's a start. If you take the big money out of the equation, there is less of an incentive for the media to winnow out the ones that don't have a ton of money that could be spent on advertising with them. After the federally-funded elections, go after the rollback of the media consolidation relaxation. The airwaves are OURS! We can take control of them. Look at where your candidate of choice has gotten his/her money and think about the question Edwards asked in the debate this week -- what do you think they expect for the millions they've given? Ask your candidate of choice what their position is on federally-funded elections and rolling back the relaxation of the media consolidation restrictions.

[Beaux510]

Sadly true and truer.

I play a game with my wife called "what you won't hear on the Evening News" about every other day. She's usually shocked by the truly important stories that go unreported in our mainstream media, that I only come across because I have way too much time in front of a computer every day (for work...but I still get lots of "go find it" time).

As for Radio: If it isn't independent, I won't listen to it.

If in the Seattle area try 90.3fm KEXP

If not then streaming at www.kexp.org

NO STUPID POP, NO "CLASSIC ROCK" (ok maybe a little Jimi or the Beatles every now and then), NO "NEW" COUNTRY, NO NEGATIVE RIDICULOUS "BLING" HIP HOP, NO COMMERCIALS, NO RIDICULOUS "MORNING DRIVE" TEAM

Only good, independent artists of every flavor.

[zjr909]

This is a great article; thanks for it. If I may, I'd like to take exception with the third from the last paragraph: it implies the media and electoral systems can be fixed. They can't be fixed. But they can be ignored. Since most people flip to another station when a commercial comes on anyway, let's just all do the flip when a political commercial comes on. Let's stop pretending these self-serving snipets are actually enlightening us ("I'm so-and-so and I approve this message." No? Really, Mr/Ms Politician? You approve it? Do tell!) Could people please just start acting like grown-ups? It's just plain embarrassing to watch political commercials. I might buy the brand spanking new laundry detergent you're hawking - but I sure as hell ain't buying the shill who's "approving this message." What if nobody showed up to vote? What would happen? If the 99% of the people who don't count and have no say in how the country's run just say "No" to the election. Even the worst dictators feel the need to at least pretend they're following the will of the people - so there must be something to this voting stuff. Why not put it to the test, once and for all?

[inkabinkaboo182]

YES! YES! YES!

Thank God someone, SOMEONE - and someone with enough say to have a HuffPost column nonetheless - realizes what is going on! Thank God someone else is immune to this utter bullshit.

Although I disagree that NPR is the antidote... They play into the game, because they need ratings to get funding and contributions. They're better, but I can't tell the difference between their debates and everyone else's.

And HuffPost is just as bad as anything else, I just come here because I need SOMEWHERE to get my news from, and I like to be able to comment.

When will the insanity stop? I've stopped watching TV news, but my family still does. How can we do it?

Every time after I watch network news, I feel the need to listen to John Lennon. Especially "Just Gimme Some Truth"...

[January]

Our democracy is governed by the fundamental principle: if you can afford it, you deserve it. In a nation where everything is for sale, why not the presidency? Having the best politicians money can buy is no joke. Americans love it that way.