Making Media More Meritricious

Two articles from today's Washington Post caught my attention:

"Blair Likens News Media to 'Feral Beast': British Leader Says Competition Has Pushed Press to Focus on the Sensational"

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday that the news media, driven by increasing competition and pressure from fast-changing technology, have largely abandoned impartial reporting in favor of sensation, shock and controversy, which he said demoralizes public servants and badly serves the public.

"Dan Rather Takes On Network News With His Tart Remark"

Rather sparked the controversy during a radio appearance Monday morning when he said CBS executives have attempted over the past year to lure viewers to the "CBS Evening News" -- which has plummeted in the ratings -- by "dumbing it down and tarting it up.".....

Rather -- who anchored CBS's evening newscast for nearly a quarter-century -- thinks the failure of the "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" isn't really Couric's fault but Moonves's. The CBS chief decided that to get younger viewers to watch the news, it has to be more fun, more upbeat, more entertaining. In other words: The news had to stop being the news.

Comment: I watched the CBS Evening News for a while when Katie Couric took over, but switched to ABC News, and now I watch the International Edition of BBC News on PBS. I also find that the Washington Post, my daily newspaper, does not seem to do as good a job covering the news as it once did (in the days of Watergate, for example).

It is not that the news has been "dumbed down". People can use as much intelligence on silly stories as on important ones. It is that the media panders to the audience, presenting that which will attract the largest numbers (or, more accurately, the most profitable audience) rather than that which will best inform the audience.

Fortunately, I am not as dependent on newspapers and network news as once I was. TV does give me German, French and other international stations via cable, which provides alternative viewpoints. I get a number of magazines including The Economist and The Week. And of course, the Internet provides a wealth of access to news and views. Still, it is too bad that the major media don't do a better job of covering that which is important to know! JAD

According to Merriam-Webster:

mer·e·tri·cious
Pronunciation: "mer-&-'tri-sh&s
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin meretricius, from meretric-, meretrix prostitute, from merEre to earn -- more at MERIT
1 : of or relating to a prostitute : having the nature of prostitution
2 a : tawdrily and falsely attractive b : superficially significant : PRETENTIOUS
synonym see GAUDY