Saving Journalism: Howard Kurtz Is Wrong, Dan Rather Is Right

On Monday, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post and CNN criticized veteran newsman Dan Rather for his recent call for a White House commission on the future of journalism and public media.

It was a misguided criticism of Mr. Rather, who has called for the commission as a way to bring attention to the crisis facing American newsrooms (20,000 newspaper jobs lost in the past 18 months alone), and to create the political will necessary to get our elected leaders to address the problem.

If you don't think we have a news crisis, just look at the absurd coverage of the health care town halls by the cable channels, and how they have skewed public opinion against the public interest.

Kurtz's argument can be summed up by the last lines of his article: "Journalists got themselves into this mess by clinging to the past as technology threatened to pass them by. They'll have to get themselves out of it without any assistance from the Oval Office." Kurtz asserts that the journalism crisis is not a political issue, but the result of economic and technological forces alone. If only that were true.

The biggest media companies like General Electric, News Corp., Viacom and Disney spend millions to shape government policies, like allowing consolidation of ownership, eliminating important public interest obligations, and blocking competition, to name a few. Kurtz's call for government to stay out of efforts to save journalism is a denial of policy's central role in creating -- and its ability to fix -- the media's problems. Indeed, the only ones who would benefit from Kurtz's hands-off approach are the media bosses for whom he works.

Investigative, in-depth, adversarial journalism is increasingly rare in commercial radio, television, and even newspapers. And the sort of commission that Dan Rather recommends may be the only way to get a distracted Congress and White House to pay attention - and commit to finding solutions.

Kurtz is also off-base in calling commissions a "classic bureaucratic substitute for doing something." It was a commission, backed by the White House and Congress, that created our public broadcasting system in 1969. The 9/11 Commission's investigation, hearing and report dramatically altered the debate about that tragedy and has helped guide homeland security policy to this day.

Just as our leaders have created national plans to address crises in health care, energy independence and education, it is time to craft a national strategy to renew journalism and public media in America. And that's not going to happen if we ask our nation's leader to sit it out.

While Kurtz's piece reveals a lack of understanding of the role of media policy in shaping and fostering robust journalistic institutions -- and the steps required to protect the fourth estate. I have been to a number of the forums that Kurtz refers to. I was on the panel he moderated along with Rather, and I agree that we need to move from panels toward tangible solutions.

Instead of just another Blue Ribbon panel of elite experts, the commission Rather recommends must focus on concrete policies and business models. And it should be a 21st-century "Citizen's Commission" that fosters a new kind of conversation with the American people. It should be made up of diverse voices and viewpoints and designed to gather input from everyday people and experts alike. It should leverage the on- and offline tools that Obama used so well in his campaign, and be truly inclusive and participatory -- and funded by private foundations. But in the end, it will need leadership and attention from the White House and Congress to make a real impact.

Journalism is in crisis, and we must be proactive in identifying and advancing solutions. We must re-imagine the structures and policies needed for quality journalism and public media to thrive in the digital age, and our leaders must help ensure that our media meet the demands of an informed society. Our democracy simply cannot wait.

I'll return to this space in the coming weeks with more ideas about what this commission might look like -- and how to stay informed.

Comments

[Brianisland]

Howard Kurtz should have zero credibility regarding journalism and the truth ever since the hatchet job he did on Gary Webb regarding GHW Bush, the CIA, and Contra cocaine back in the nineties. Webb's factual recounting of crimes committed by the American Government and for the Administration of R. Reagan was labelled as false by Kurtz and the right wing spin machine.
Perhaps Gary Webb's death in 2004 was one of Cheney's death squad hits?

[Alabama John]

Mainstream media pure darkness -- Why make it so complicated?

News is a window into reality, unless of course its mainstream news then its a window into fiction, fantasy and fairy tales.

New light that brings us new freedom, or new darkness reinforcing slavery, that is issue when someone offers us what they call news.

We never know what mainstream news is going to hit us with next, but we know it will be new darkness and that we must turn to those with some new light that will force such darkness to give way.

Problem is, our indifferent majority feels it deserves more and with a clear conscience desires only to take more, and any new light that impresses a need to give they reject with a vengeance.

So a law that will bring such a maddening crowd out the darkness they so love -- lots of luck.

[bimplebean]

That back in the infancy of the broadcast industry, chaos reigned. Different overlapping frequencies, large stations drowning out others across the nation, etc. It wasn't until the government mandated clear rules that broadcasters were able to operate intelligently and compete fairly. Some of those rules required broadcasters to devote a certain percentage of their schedule to public affairs and news programming, as part of their obligation to serve the public.

For many years, radio and TV stations provided news and public information programming as a public service. They felt this civic responsibility keenly. It wasn't until the profit motive kicked in and deregulation was enacted that news began it's long slow slide into stupidity, chasing ratings via senstationalism. Funding was cut, real substantive stories were discarded in favor of attention-grabbing cheap news.

Sometimes we need to operate freely, innovatively. Sometimes we need to follow the rules for the good of all. In this case, we need a return to civic responsibility over profits in the areas of news and public service broadcasting. Let them continue to play 'Big Brother' and all that other crap if they want, if it makes money. But when it comes to news, the highest, indeed the only imperative should be accuracy, truth and service to the public interest. Profit motives should just be removed from the news.

[Alabama John]

The news people need to hear is give-give-give, but our self-absorbed majority feels they deserve more and only want to take-take-take. Give it up, its a hopeless cause.

[Dbos]

Complex yet simple, most perported journalists today are not journalists but gotcha sensationalists. Journalists are people who seek the truth not report wild lies as if its the truth because it causes sensational response by duped people.

[DARKLADYOFGA]

Of course! Rather is a real journalist who, at least atttempted, to the detriment of his careeer, ousted by the cowards that be at CBS, has kept up the good fight.!

Kurtz is part of the problem; and, he has a lot of company.

[everyvoice]

Great column, Josh. It's particularly critical to remind people that public policy in the U.S. has shaped the media since the days when Samuel Morse got a government grant to demo that new telegraph thing.

The radio, TV, and cable industries were strongly influenced by government policies . . . usually prodded by industry lobbyists who have learned to cloak their self-interested agendas in the language of "the public interest."

If today's media institutions are failing in their responsibilities to foster and promote democratic self-government - - and they most certainly are - - a national commission is a great place to start a national dialog about what needs to be done differently. Such a dialog must start with an accurate understanding of the history of government policy making in media and communications, and Howard Kurtz has clearly demonstrated that he doesn't have knowledge or integrity to contribute much to that dialog.

[Artos]

Josh the one aspect of all of this that you don't put much if any emphasis on is that the affect that the lobbying of Corporations like GE, Newscorp,Viacom and Disney had on the Government in order to consolidate media in the hands of a few was more than just happy circumstance and good fortune for them. Perhaps their hasn't been any or enough impartial investigation into it, but I firmly believe that what happened was caused by an insidious strategy of the Right Wing to silence all opposition. An attempt to make sure that only their voice was heard. Hiding their plans beneath a routine called Market Forces was brilliant. Who could argue with Capitalism working the way it should, Ha. The Republicans have a track record of using deceit, lies and backstabbing to accomplish their aim of controlling life in America,Why is it any less believable to assume that they would use this as just another avenue in their quest for Power. It's not enough that the rich would naturally be the only ones with the means to build News Medias, but if one assumes that the Wealthy by their very nature would support the aims of the Republican Party, we are already in a losing battle. This consolidation makes it even more a given.

[abluevoice]

The GOP and the radical right have managed to corrupt the broadcasting of objective news with their political talking points as "the other side of the facts being reported" whether there is one shred of credibility in the talking points, or not. The GOP talking points are planted on to the so-called public airwaves by biased, partisan pimps such as Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Savage, OReilly, etc. under the guise of entertainment, and with no push back from the political opposition. Then they are reported and repeated on the mainstream media as if they have equal credibility to real fact based reporting.
Thus, really wacko ideas with no basis in fact or no proof, dominate the news of the day and political debate, such as Obama is not a citizen, or he wants "death panels" in his health reform, or Sonia Sotomayer is a racist, etc.
As Bob Dylan once sang "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing", we don't need another government commission to know that the mainstream media and Fox News have come under the grips of a terminal cancer of right wing partisan political talking points, with no puah back. We need the return of the Fairness Doctrine.

[HypocrisyAlarm]

An idea: require broadcasters to contribute to a fund that pays for not-for-profit, independent news broadcasting companies and to broadcast a not-for-profit newscast therefrom twice daily with broadcast times rotating yearly through a 24-hour cycle. Thus, independent news will be available at any time on any day, and every broadcaster loses the same amount of primetime broadcasting as other broadcasters over time.

[Alabama John]

Takers will only listen to news that gratifies their desire to take. So the problem is not a lack of truth, but a lack of desire to except truth.

[themainpoint]

Great post.

[realpolitic]

Kurtz is just another so-called media watchdog coward. He is always afraid to expose Fox news and the right for any of its lies. He pretends there should be "balance" on all issues, I guess that means even coverage of the holocaust as a conspiracy. He expressed surprise that Fox was covering the teabagers to such an extent, in fact being a sponsor of many events. People no longer admire journalists because they cover all events as he-said and she-said, no longer introducing any facts to the debate. If Kurtz had the courage to call out the lies manufactured by Fox or any news source, he would earn the title of a media watchdog.

[thinkworklivelove]

Is anyone tired of the Government is the problem message? We are the Government. We elect leaders to represent us and our communities.

It seems that what the media does best is turn us against each other. Then they let their rich friends and owners get away with doing whatever they want to do. Media should be a public good. Not a capitalistic venture. Otherwise, we WILL get more Fox Channels. Look at what is happening to CNN.

[mountclemens]

Yes, a huge problem is the corporate ownership. As we've seen for decades, the big news outlets that are big-corporate owned constantly cover for their owners and other corporate owners, too. Yes. Why? Because the owners sit on the corporate boards of each other's corporations and other big corporations.

I was a journalist for a daily newspaper and a tv station. I saw the progression from small ownership (sometimes corrupt) to big corporate ownership (always corrupt).

Dan Rather is right, too. But no real reform is going to happen under Obama. He is Mr. Corporation, certainly not Mr. Change.

WE must change the corrupt system we have. We must sweep out the Republicans and Democrats. They're beyond hope, no matter how much audacity you have.

[kizzie]

The public has been hoodwinked so long they don't know the truth from fiction anymore.
Media has covered up, been bought out by the highest bidders and media moguls, and perpetrated untruths as fact for too long.
Why since 2001 has the lives of Hollywood idiots been more blazen and passed as real news that we need to know? So they can distract us from knowing what is really going on and dumb us down before we find out the truth of the corruption in this country.
Dan Rather was in fact a good person to have around, so they slung mud, hid documents proving his facts on Bush so they could force him out. That was a very sad day.
I fear it is not going to improve since "honest journalism" in mainstream media is gone--bought and paid for. CNN has even succumbed to the powers of money.

[shadow7]

Journalism died a quiet yet ugly death with the installation of the Bush administration. Scroll down on this page to view a video that explains why the mainstream media are America's number 1 enemy.
http://tvnewslies.org/tvnl/

[Genius]

Thank you shadow7. This shouldn't only open your eyes, this would wake the dead!