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One of the fundamental problems with the current news business model is very simply that there is strong fiscal incentive /to/ highlight differences over simila

One of the fundamental problems with the current news business model is very simply that there is strong fiscal incentive /to/ highlight differences over similarities - the demographic split between Fox News and MSNBC is not, by any means, a matter of serendipity. Where does the money to pay journalists come from? Though audience fatigue and inurement has somewhat disrupted the formula, news outlets still make their money via basing their sales to advertisers on the quantity of audience they can bring forth. Basic, sure - but this kind of business model fundamentally encourages a confrontational approach to journalism versus an educational approach. When the point is to get as much attention as possible, the goal is no longer to be informative, just alarmist. As we can see, this is well-reflected in the hiring and editorial policies of the major papers and networks.

albertsun 17y ago
Traditional news organizations (magazines and newspapers at least, I can't speak for TV or radio) erect high barriers between the news and content side of their operation and the business and advertising side, specifically to stop this kind of interference and fiscal incentive. They know that having a business motive in the reporting damages their credibility and so they avoid it. At the same time, there is another wall between the editorial pages that contain opinion pieces from the news pages that contain objective reporting. Unfortunately, many people don't realize that this wall exists and that when a columnist for a particular paper writes something, they are not representing the viewpoint of everyone at that paper. I don't think TV bothers trying to maintain these distinctions as almost all TV news is opinionated and alarmist. The journalists at most newspapers are still by and large impartial, the problem is that the ones who now get the most attention are the loud, impartial ones.

albertsun 17y ago

Traditional news organizations (magazines and newspapers at least, I can't speak for TV or radio) erect high barriers between the news and content side of their operation and the business and advertising side, specifically to stop this kind of interference and fiscal incentive. They know that having a business motive in the reporting damages their credibility and so they avoid it. At the same time, there is another wall between the editorial pages that contain opinion pieces from the news pages that contain objective reporting. Unfortunately, many people don't realize that this wall exists and that when a columnist for a particular paper writes something, they are not representing the viewpoint of everyone at that paper. I don't think TV bothers trying to maintain these distinctions as almost all TV news is opinionated and alarmist. The journalists at most newspapers are still by and large impartial, the problem is that the ones who now get the most attention are the loud, impartial ones.