We The Media

by Fred Showker

In the days following the 2004 presidential elections the media, radio, TV, newspapers and magazines were humming and buzzing over why John Kerry lost. They found all kinds of places to put the blame, except themselves. And, of course, a large percentage of the population will believe the nightly news. Just like the media wanted them to in the days before the election. But the media seriously underestimated the power of suggestion.

From a designer's perspective, bad journalism had shown itself in the main stream media like never before. Designers know that mind-space is bought through association. Associate your brand with something GOOD and the consumer begins to believe the brand is good. Continue to associate your brand with something bad, and eventually, consumers will turn away. Thus the story of John Kerry and the media.

As I watched the media in those months and weeks before the election I couldn't believe I was seeing such an obvious lack of professionalism. The main-stream media seemed to grab at any shred of controversy as the lead story. Then the others would fall in step picking up the same story. Then they all would run it again, and again. It was a battle between the media giants; who could release the worst news of the day.

All throughout the Iraq conflict, the media continues to take great relish in the body counts -- four today; three yesterday, as if there could be a war with no casualties. They dig into the private lives of the families so they'll actually have something to report. So far - in the entire conflict - there haven't been as many deaths as the first hour of the war that, once upon a time, took down another evil dictator.

When the Iraq prison scandal hit the media pounded away at it; showing the photos again and again until the public was sick. One night, the ABC evening news I counted the prison photos displayed full screen eighteen (18) times in twenty minutes. Then for several days they continued to run the story showing the same rude photos.

The "Fast Boat" scandal and Moore's "911" became ongoing staples in all the networks. But the big debacle was the CBS 60-Minutes airing of the "Bush Papers" -- giving grave concern for the credibility of the Kerry campaign because of the questionable authenticity of the documents. Radio talk shows like Hanady and Regan were really the only ones to approach the truth with level and calm journalism.

And throughout all of this, not a single glimpse of anything good. At least not that I can remember. People began to turn away from the main-stream media by the millions. Too much bad news.

If big-media journalists were designers, obligated to extract the truth and essence of the subject, and then associate it with their brand, the personality of the 2004 presidential campaign coverage would have been very different. Instead, the media grabbed every horrible story they could find to report on and wrapped it neatly around John Kerry's campaign. The public came to subliminally associate Kerry with all the bad news -- no matter what the announcer was saying. Thus, whether intentionally or not, the main-stream media convinced the minds of rational Americans that Bush was the only appropriate choice. The media had lost the election for Kerry.

We the Media

In his new book "We The Media" Dan Gillmor says:
      "We can't afford more of the same. We can't afford to treat the news solely as a commodity, largely controlled by big institutions. We can't afford, as a society, to limit our choices. We can't even afford it financially, because Wall Street's demands on Big Media are dumbing down the product itself."

Grassroots journalism is taking the wind out of big media's sails. The story is underscored by the "Bush Papers" scandal where astute online news reporters called industry experts, like myself, to analyze the authenticity of those condemning letters about George Bush supplied by a figure in Kerry's campaign. All experts agreed there was grave cause for concern. But while the main-stream media was glossing over the issue, millions of bloggers, and online discussion groups were digging for the truth. There was indeed a voice. The people.

Gillmor further notes:
      "The Media will never be the same... for the first time, bloggers have been awarded press credentials to cover the national political conventions. That's a harbinger of bigger changes in the media landscape -- big media has lost its monopoly on the news thanks to the internet."

YOU the Media

I know you'll be watching the TV nightly news this evening. But this time, look a little deeper. Take the designer's stance and ask questions about the essence of the story, the reporter's demeanor and what is not being said. Then Google the headline. Find out that it's old news, and perhaps not really the same news you're getting from the talking heads of main-stream media.

Thanks for reading...

Fred Showker
 
      "Let us be thankful for the fools.
        But for them the rest of us could not succeed."
            Mark Twain

best choiceWe the Media

We the Media: the Book

Nationally known columnist Dan Gillmor has put his finger on the future, and anyone interested in the 'new media' should take a look. At its core, We The Media is a book about like Glenn Reynolds, a law professor whose blog postings on the intersection of technology and liberty garnered him enough readers and influence that he became a source for professional journalists. Or Ben Chandler, whose upset Congressional victory was fueled by contributions that came in response to ads on a handful of political blogs. Or Iraqi blogger Zayed, whose Healing Irag blog (healingiraq.blogspot.com) scooped Big Media. Or "acridrabbit," who inspired an online community to become investigative reporters and discover that the dying Kaycee Nichols' sad tale was a hoax. Give the people tools to make the news, We The Media asserts, and they will.

  • by Dan Gillmor
  • List Price: $24.95, Price: $15.72
  • You Save: $9.23 (37%)
  • Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: O'Reilly; 1st edition (August, 2004)
  • Download the introduction to the book in PDF format.

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