such a useful analysis, one I haven't seen elsewhere and hope gets discussed widely. one of those things that once known seem blindingly obvious but had hidden in plain sight. thank you, Dan.
I agree that this is often a problem. Chris Licht at CNN is an example. Keith Olbermann tells the story of MSNBC negotiating with Fox to get him to tone down his mockery of Bill O’Reilly. The problem was triggered by Jeff Immelt’s mom complaining to him about Olbermann being mean to O’Reilly. Immelt was CEO of GE which owned MSNBC back then.
However a lot of damage has been done by the groupthink and fanboy/fangirl attitudes of the Kool Kids at Beltway High, led by prom queen Sally Quinn. Quinn was the wife of WaPo’s legendary Ben Bradlee. I nearly barfed when I read that David Ignatius and his wife were thrilled to get their first invite to a Quinn soirée because Quinn and Bradlee were their “Bogey and Bacall”. Quinn’s crowd picked favorites based on who they thought were the coolest, most sophisticated, etc, not who was the most qualified. The northeastern patrician Bush family almost always got a pass whereas southerners like Carter and Clinton got the rube/white trash treatment. That is why they gave the arrogant, ignorant Dubya a pass. No way would Gore or Clinton have gotten approval just for being “more fun to have a beer with”.
And the there was the gang’s outrage over Clinton and Monica. They all knew that Quinn was basically a successful version of — role model for? — Monica Lewinsky. The members of her gang — Chris Matthews, Maureen Dowd, Tim Russert, and many more — were well aware that as a young twenty-something cub reporter Quinn had set out to seduce Bradley, her much older, married boss by sending him flirtatious, anonymous memos. That led to their affair and eventual marriage. The Kids all knew because Bradlee had written about it in his memoir. Those same people were beyond outraged by Clinton’s dalliance with Monica. Most of them also worshipped the ground the far more reckless and promiscuous JFK had walked on. ( even lived in JFK’s old bachelor pad on N Street in Georgetown.) I remember some of them defending Ken Starr as a non-partisan because he was included in the Klub.
I was struck recently when I was re-reading Mark Hertsgaard’s “On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency” that the author was surprised when David Gergen, Reagan’s communication director, told him the famous Teflon that protected Reagan was applied by the press not by him. Journalists were too impressed by what they saw as a glamorous movie star to give Saint Ronnie the scrutiny we citizens deserved to see.
Media bias is about a lot more than just corporate greed and we should never forget that fact.
Thank you for this history. Rich and connected bro boys and mean girls dressed up as arbiters of taste. Inside they are trash. And they are the decoders of world events. Ugh.
Rulers' ideas rule, Dan. And rulers' prerogatives. They want a media that serves them. That gets them richer while justifying, even celebrating, their worst excesses. And so that's the media we have now. Hooray corporate cronyism disguised as free market capitalism! I guess it works for Bezos and Musk.
including a list of good existing not for profit would be helpful. Ive abandoned Wapo NYT and CNN (their covereage of Gaza and trans rights is gross and their pol journalism is trash for all the reasons you list) for the interecept, the lever and dropsite (all not for profit) and some zeteo (for profit). Brian Tyler Cohen and Heather Cox Richardson are free and there is good local journalism too.
Thanks for thought-provoking analysis. Whatever model evolves it will need a generation of skilled, smart reporters and editors, in a format that makes peoples want to read it for actual important news and hard-hitting commentary. Perhaps a little lightness and sports to sweeten the meal but not the NYT cynical smorgasboard of games, trends, gossip, and ads.
"The United States has essentially conducted a hundred and fifty-year experiment in commercial journalism by treating news as both a commodity and a public service. With the latter function driven into the ground by the market, this experiment has largely failed."
I've been watching Beau (now Belle) of the Fifth Column on Youtube and believe it to be a good news model in what your analysis describes. They are Southerners answering questions, often awkwardly asked by conservative Southern voters from "why am I unsuccessful in my attempts to date after following instructions from far right influencers?", to what is a Tariff?
In my fantasies: Lachlan's siblings wrest control of FNC from their brother and father and turn it into the trusted source for the High Information Voters who understand what was lost when Trump was re-elected. Yes, I know, keep dreaming. But more positive than the ones that involve stakes and fire-ant hills and Nutella!
In Iowa, we have excellent examples of solid online news, including Iowa Capital Dispatch and Bleeding Heartland. One current example of MSM --Cedar Rapids Gazette is under the national radar, but it is doing its job. The Des Moines Register is trying hard, but financially challenged. Storm Lake papers also are media leaders (they get attention because they won a Pulitzer in recent years.
It's very heartening to hear that, but also a little confusing. Iowa has some of the more regressive politics outside of the old Confederacy, starting with Chuck Grassley who is one of the worst hypocrites in a Senate filled with them.
Child labor, a flat tax, a terrible immigration law that is total hypocrisy for a state that relies so heavily on migrant labor, a pro-corruption bill that limits the State Auditor's powers (SF 478) and so on.
such a useful analysis, one I haven't seen elsewhere and hope gets discussed widely. one of those things that once known seem blindingly obvious but had hidden in plain sight. thank you, Dan.
I agree that this is often a problem. Chris Licht at CNN is an example. Keith Olbermann tells the story of MSNBC negotiating with Fox to get him to tone down his mockery of Bill O’Reilly. The problem was triggered by Jeff Immelt’s mom complaining to him about Olbermann being mean to O’Reilly. Immelt was CEO of GE which owned MSNBC back then.
However a lot of damage has been done by the groupthink and fanboy/fangirl attitudes of the Kool Kids at Beltway High, led by prom queen Sally Quinn. Quinn was the wife of WaPo’s legendary Ben Bradlee. I nearly barfed when I read that David Ignatius and his wife were thrilled to get their first invite to a Quinn soirée because Quinn and Bradlee were their “Bogey and Bacall”. Quinn’s crowd picked favorites based on who they thought were the coolest, most sophisticated, etc, not who was the most qualified. The northeastern patrician Bush family almost always got a pass whereas southerners like Carter and Clinton got the rube/white trash treatment. That is why they gave the arrogant, ignorant Dubya a pass. No way would Gore or Clinton have gotten approval just for being “more fun to have a beer with”.
And the there was the gang’s outrage over Clinton and Monica. They all knew that Quinn was basically a successful version of — role model for? — Monica Lewinsky. The members of her gang — Chris Matthews, Maureen Dowd, Tim Russert, and many more — were well aware that as a young twenty-something cub reporter Quinn had set out to seduce Bradley, her much older, married boss by sending him flirtatious, anonymous memos. That led to their affair and eventual marriage. The Kids all knew because Bradlee had written about it in his memoir. Those same people were beyond outraged by Clinton’s dalliance with Monica. Most of them also worshipped the ground the far more reckless and promiscuous JFK had walked on. ( even lived in JFK’s old bachelor pad on N Street in Georgetown.) I remember some of them defending Ken Starr as a non-partisan because he was included in the Klub.
I was struck recently when I was re-reading Mark Hertsgaard’s “On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency” that the author was surprised when David Gergen, Reagan’s communication director, told him the famous Teflon that protected Reagan was applied by the press not by him. Journalists were too impressed by what they saw as a glamorous movie star to give Saint Ronnie the scrutiny we citizens deserved to see.
Media bias is about a lot more than just corporate greed and we should never forget that fact.
Thank you for this history. Rich and connected bro boys and mean girls dressed up as arbiters of taste. Inside they are trash. And they are the decoders of world events. Ugh.
Rulers' ideas rule, Dan. And rulers' prerogatives. They want a media that serves them. That gets them richer while justifying, even celebrating, their worst excesses. And so that's the media we have now. Hooray corporate cronyism disguised as free market capitalism! I guess it works for Bezos and Musk.
including a list of good existing not for profit would be helpful. Ive abandoned Wapo NYT and CNN (their covereage of Gaza and trans rights is gross and their pol journalism is trash for all the reasons you list) for the interecept, the lever and dropsite (all not for profit) and some zeteo (for profit). Brian Tyler Cohen and Heather Cox Richardson are free and there is good local journalism too.
I Agree, A business model that rewards truth and penalizes lies.
What about people like you on substack? How can we power you? (There are no stupid questions.)
Thanks for thought-provoking analysis. Whatever model evolves it will need a generation of skilled, smart reporters and editors, in a format that makes peoples want to read it for actual important news and hard-hitting commentary. Perhaps a little lightness and sports to sweeten the meal but not the NYT cynical smorgasboard of games, trends, gossip, and ads.
Here's another good quote from Victor Pickard:
"The United States has essentially conducted a hundred and fifty-year experiment in commercial journalism by treating news as both a commodity and a public service. With the latter function driven into the ground by the market, this experiment has largely failed."
https://www.allsides.com/blog/proposal-5-enough-horse-race-already
Thank you for your analysis of "news".
I've been watching Beau (now Belle) of the Fifth Column on Youtube and believe it to be a good news model in what your analysis describes. They are Southerners answering questions, often awkwardly asked by conservative Southern voters from "why am I unsuccessful in my attempts to date after following instructions from far right influencers?", to what is a Tariff?
In my fantasies: Lachlan's siblings wrest control of FNC from their brother and father and turn it into the trusted source for the High Information Voters who understand what was lost when Trump was re-elected. Yes, I know, keep dreaming. But more positive than the ones that involve stakes and fire-ant hills and Nutella!
Do you think canceling subscriptions like I did with my NYT account has any impact?
In Iowa, we have excellent examples of solid online news, including Iowa Capital Dispatch and Bleeding Heartland. One current example of MSM --Cedar Rapids Gazette is under the national radar, but it is doing its job. The Des Moines Register is trying hard, but financially challenged. Storm Lake papers also are media leaders (they get attention because they won a Pulitzer in recent years.
It's very heartening to hear that, but also a little confusing. Iowa has some of the more regressive politics outside of the old Confederacy, starting with Chuck Grassley who is one of the worst hypocrites in a Senate filled with them.
Child labor, a flat tax, a terrible immigration law that is total hypocrisy for a state that relies so heavily on migrant labor, a pro-corruption bill that limits the State Auditor's powers (SF 478) and so on.