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Chuck Green is the closest thing I have to an employer. Several Sundays ago, he noted that the media do a terrible job of covering themselves. Thus I have dutifully spent many hours in solemn meditation.
This dereliction can be partially explained by the antiquated journalism schools many of us attended. In those days, television news was not considered real journalism, and we aspiring print types were cautioned to this effect:
You are not the story. You are present only to cover
the story, to report newsworthy events with honesty,
accuracy and objectivity.
The rules are different for television, where they must
learn something like this: You are the story. Your
arrival, with thrashing helicopters and an obtrusive camera
crew and a lot of lights and cables to dominate the
situation, is the story. You are the celebrity at every
event.
Those of us who learned under the old rules are thus
rather shy and reticent; we think we're not nearly as
important what we're reporting about, and if what we're
supposed to report about is one of us,
there is an
understandable tendency to back away.
The other major problem with media reporting on media is that the coverage generally goes to the wrong desk. For instance, the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation always appear in the business section.
Business people must have a high tolerance for ambiguity, because I can never figure out anything from those reports. The numbers in this paper indicate that Post circulation is growing at exponential rates and that Post readers have the discretionary income that advertisers love. The Rocky's numbers show huge weekday circulation.
Who's winning? Who can tell? That coverage should be taken away from business and given to sports. Even the most inept sportswriter can produce winners, losers and standings, thus greatly simplifying a complex issue. Further, if the sports department covered newspaper competitions the way they cover other competitions, we would also see witty commentary about potential trades, suggested strategies, salary battles, departure rumors, all-star teams, etc.
Consider the Wendy Bergen pit-bull saga. In the regular
news section, we just see statements from the prosecuting
attorney and bland denials from Channel 4. Turn that one
over to a feature writer in the lifestyles section, and
maybe we'd see something interesting: As she watched the
tipster's videotape, the reporter gamely fought the urge to
fast-forward past the flesh-ripping teeth, geysers of hot
blood, pulsating slimy entrails. Truly this was more
horrible than anything she could imagine -- until the man
from the DA's office appeared. . .
The latest media story
is Westword. While the
statehouse reporters quote the governor's denials of an
affair with a top assistant, a business reporter should
cover the story from a commercial perspective:
Desperately in need of some new controversy to boost
circulation after the Sal Aunese flap settled, the
alternative weekly made another bold strategic move. They
embellished an old statehouse rumor with anonymous quotes,
and Westword's press run surged overnight as advertisers
lined up at the door, despite a 35 percent increase in ad
rates.
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