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Death of Journalism

Posted on Thursday, June 29, 2023
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by AMAC, Robert B. Charles
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19 Comments
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journalism

The profession of journalism is dying – slowly, but certainly. Gone – being fired, retired, and laid off – are hundreds of “old fashioned” reporters, the sort who dug for facts, interviewed people, sought truth, worked to keep government honest. In their place is a new generation, a “sit on your butt, parrot politics, dress up activism with googled facts” sort – and it stinks.

Never did the nation’s founders, or any journalist worth their salt, from Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Bill Buckley to Walter Lipman, Walter Cronkite, and Bob Woodward, think the “free press” – and protection given the Fourth Estate by our First Amendment – was meant to become part of government, lazy, uncurious, captured, or filled with largely ignorant apparatchiks.

But that is where we are. Talking with seasoned journalists – conservatives and liberals – who have been laid off, including top-flight thinkers and feature writers at the Washington Post and other traditionally liberal-but-inquiring media outlets, the reality is overwhelming, frightening.

Gone is the fresh story, deep dive that takes time, assembles pieces of a complex puzzle, is based on patient, dangerous sleuthing, that frustrating, difficult story which unearths genuine public corruption, shines a bright light on powerful people– regardless of party – who are dishonest.

Gone too are the democracy-preserving stories that quietly draw out honest public servants, assuring them that truth matters, that they are serving the public interest – a higher interest – by being courageous, and are being courageous by being honest.

Instead, we have the rise of the “new journalist,” who cares little for truth, mightily for personal credit and “having an impact” on politics, pushing prejudice as fact. In place of letting chips fall where they may, this species gathers what justifies their political agenda, and ignores the rest.

On the numbers, the shift in quality and quantity of newsroom personnel is big and affects public understandings of truth – especially when key facts are omitted, and reporting is increasingly one-sided, supporting dishonest actors in the government, rather than holding them accountable.

By way of example, the Washington Post laid off dozens of their best earlier this year, along with Vox Media, which owns New York Magazine, while dozens more were let go from the New York Times, LA Times, Warner Brothers, and even some conservative outlets.

Being swept out are the “old school” reporters and editors, not traditionally conservative but conservative in the way they viewed their job, imagining they were pursuing truth not politics, offering credible, tangible service to the Republic, not to a political party, passion, or movement.

George Orwell, famous for social critiques and hard truths, including in those in Animal Farm and 1984, where he predicted the rise of government-aligned, consciously communist reporters – was also a cutting wit in the non-fiction world.

Born 120 years ago this month, Orwell noted that “intellectual cowardice is the worst enemy a writer or journalist has to face, and that fact does not seem to me to have had the discussion it deserves.” He opened that can of worms – one the new brand of reporter wants closed.

The implications of this shift are profound, and worth laying out. 

First, as we watch a sitting president, attorney general, heads of the FBI, IRS, and other agencies dissembling, openly lying and denying acts with no plausible defense – a pay-to-play scheme that involved sale of access to foreign governments for tens of millions of dollars, the modern newsroom ignores incontrovertible facts, documents, testimony, to protect criminality for party.

Americans watch open-jawed as a boldly unethical president, his son, family, and friends, profit from criminal actions, yet get a pass from the current attorney general, Justice, FBI, and IRS.

In the Watergate era, Republicans believed the nation mattered more than their party; reporters had their own fame in mind, but also knew that the Republic required integrity to survive. Today, we watch Democrats fawn, resurrect distractions, and mostly go silent in the face of criminality.

Moreover, we watch the new nomenklatura, a left-leaning brand of non-journalist who poses as a traditional journalist, reciting exact talking points of corrupt political actors in what is transparently their party, ignoring whistleblowers, black-and-white documents, tapes and facts.

The spectacle is one that sobers the soul, worries patriotic, truth-loving, honest and constitutionally inclined Americans, many of whom feel they have no recourse, since the media is so powerful – and by non-reporting, misreporting, and covering corruption, is complicit.

A second implication should sober the media. The First Amendment does not justify complicity in federal crimes; when media organs justify criminal acts, cover them, align with criminal actors by presenting false facts and omitting material ones, watch the law of libel begin to change.

Mostly however, the impact of this tectonic shift in the media – from real and honest reporting to false and politically-motivated non-reporting – is simple: The public no longer trusts those who pretend to be journalists, instead seeing them as betrayers of the public trust.

That – and government dishonesty excused, or actively hidden by the media – represents a merging of government and media, which translates directly to the threat Orwell predicted, a threat to the integrity of the Republic.

On the positive side, good journalism remains possible. As Walter Cronkite once noted, “Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.” But the reality is that we are slipping, the nation is becoming acculturated to activism as journalism – and that spells the death of journalism.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.

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Susabella
Susabella
1 year ago

Journalism has been gone for a very long time. I remember telling my daughters, 10 years ago that journalism was speculation and opinion with no facts or research. Used to be, 3 sources required before printing or telling the story. The young “journalists” probably don’t even know about that requirement of old. So sad.

Steve Tapper
Steve Tapper
1 year ago

The liberal colleges and universities are churning out indoctrinated left leaning journalists from their Journalism Schools. They already have a built in bias toward the left and have become a public relations arm of the Democrat Party. They are motivated to expound on the talking points produced by the government instead of investigating those talking points to see if they are accurate and truthful. Real Journalism is dead. It is more apparent now than ever with this current administration and the federal agencies it has corrupted.

Patriot Will
Patriot Will
1 year ago

There are tens of millions of ignorant Americans who are totally on board with the mainstream media propaganda machine. They believe CNN, NPR, MSNBC, Washington Post, New York Times, and so on — hook, line, and sinker. These foolish ignoramuses are perfectly content being fed false news, because they have been brainwashed to believe that Biden is good and President Trump is bad. They are so full of hate that it makes them extremely uncomfortable to even consider the fact that Biden is a failure and treasonous false leader who does much more for Communist China than the USA. Consequently, the corrupt mainstream media machine is actually interfering with the ability of Americans to objectively and honestly vote for honorable and competent politicians. Our Constitutional Republic is being seriously compromised by many fake journalists who are deliberately lying, slandering, and refusing to do their jobs in an open and objective manner. Instead of our mainstream media being for the people, we have a disgusting situation in which the media are in it for themselves.

CLIFFORD F GERACI
CLIFFORD F GERACI
1 year ago

Even FOX was caught at being deceptive to cater to it’s audience. The lack of true transparency and disclosure is the real threat to Democracy. Without reliable information by the corporate media America will be but a shadow of it’s former self.

Paul B
Paul B
1 year ago

Thank you, Mr. Charles, for writing this article. Personally, I gave up newspapers years ago and all of the TV news channels for the last several years. It has become increasingly difficult to actually find real news. It’s impossible to find real news on the internet. I have wondered for years where the true journalists have gone. I truly fear what has replaced them. You are absolutely correct that they have been replaced with politically biased talking heads. The one thing I never will understand is why they are all so determined to take the “Progressive” agenda when any clear-headed thinking shows the stupidity of the left.

Max
Max
1 year ago

The “voted already and not allowed to vote” bug is still in the system. So much for a new format.

BillBoyBaggins
BillBoyBaggins
1 year ago

Very good points made.

JamesP.
JamesP.
1 year ago

The only journalism i see in the usa today is when i watch carl kolchak invesitgate his mysteries in THE NIGHT STALKER. So-called american journalist are nothing but propogansist (it seems).

Samuel
Samuel
1 year ago

… beginning of the end will be, Julian Assange. If the CIA people finally get their hands on him, journalism officially becomes a de facto crime –

Jackie
Jackie
1 year ago

Journalism died with people like Walter Cronkite!! Today’s “reporters” don’t go after the facts but agendize every story that’s out there! They, like judges, DA’s, etc. should not allow their personal opinions and political persuasions to sway, influence or dominate their decisions in their profession! Looks like there are too many people who can’t make that differentiation between personal beliefs and opinions and professional obligations. I can’t listen to any of these shows from the liberal side because they are telling obvious lies! I resent the messages that we don’t know what’s best for ourselves, that we are ignorant and they must do everything for us!!

Di B
Di B
1 year ago

Excellent article and all so true! I was a reporter for my high school newspaper many, many years ago. The first rule in journalism at that time was to be sure to include in your story “who, what, where, why, when and how” in the first paragraph of your article. Now one has to read through paragraphs of opinion-sprinkled facts to get to the meat of the story.

Phyllis C
Phyllis C
1 year ago

So well said and so sad!

SusanP
SusanP
1 year ago

I tuned out of main stream media, including the local evening news, more than a decade ago. I simply could not listen to the idiocy, lies and prejudicial narrative for another minute. One would have to be a total moron to fail to notice the propaganda. I have long considered the MSM to be a modern version of Pravda; the only newspaper of the USSR and nothing but propaganda.
TRUTH in news is hard to find.

Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis
1 year ago

To see how journalism was lost over our nation’s history please watch It is time to restore 1st Amendment rights to real people on the last page on my sway:
sway.office.com/8EyjfBHJ9ca4s3gS?ref=Link&loc=play

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