January 25, 2008
ABQ Trib 1/23/08
Here is the column that ran in the Albuquerque Tribune January 23, 2008.
INSIDE KNOWLEDGE
Many lay blame on the media when few know how television and newspapers really work
By Arthur Alpert
Back in the day, when I was a young television producer, the conventional wisdom was that citizens - yes, we were citizens, not yet consumers - couldn’t care less about how the news business worked. That, veterans told me, was "inside baseball."
Having come to TV from newspaper reporting, though, I was fascinated by differences between news in print and on screen. That led to deeper questions. How did journalism work? Why pursue it?
Then I got lucky. In 1968, executives at National Educational Television green lighted my proposal to cover a Vietnam War protest and examine how the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC-TV News and United Press International did.
After putting their stories under the microscope, we interviewed folks like David Brinkley, Clifton Daniel of the Times and Bill Moyers, then publisher of Newsday and concluded – ahem! – each outfit had an angle that shaped its story.
That was controversial stuff, then and now, but my boss’ boss, Fred Friendly, thought the experiment worthwhile.
It was a time for self-examination; as the whole world watched tumultuous events like the Democratic convention in Chicago, the commercial networks, too, aired documentaries about how their cameras intersected with public events.
This was the ‘60s, when newspapers routinely criticized TV news, a wild, crazy and educational era.
No more – today’s television doesn’t explore the inner tube. Today’s papers rarely treat TV seriously or - aside from a few major newspapers with ombudsmen - reveal their own dynamics.
That retreat is bad news for democracy.
When Newsweek employs Karl Rove as a contributor, for example, why not discuss what that brilliant, unscrupulous political operative will do for journalism?
The New York Times just hired William Kristol as a regular columnist. Adding neo-conservative op-eds makes sense, but why pick the epitome of geo-political ignorance?
Kristol, remember, told NPR shortly after we attacked Iraq:
"There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America, that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's been almost no evidence of that at all," he continued. "Iraq's always been very secular."
In both hires, analysis might start with the premise they were corporate decisions, not journalistic. Businesses defend themselves with balance, which isn’t truth-telling.
The paucity of mainstream criticism of our news mediums may explain why even educated Americans – leftists and rightists – scapegoat "the media" as if "media" was a singular noun and a single institution.
No, and no. Reality is more complex.
Broadcasting needs attention, too. The Republican majority on the Federal Communications Commission just voted to further centralize media power. Will corporate Democrats reverse that? Don’t bet on it.
Perhaps media criticism isn’t a top national priority, but it’s hardly trivial. For the fundamental bias in both print and broadcasting is to duck First Amendment responsibilities, simplify and dumb down. This encourages feeling and discourages thought. It empowers the Establishment, plutocrats and theocrats who have, in recent years dishonored our nation abroad and subverted the Constitution, imperiling democracy.
In retrospect, the seniors who pooh-poohed my youthful desire to think out loud about our news mediums were wrong - audiences gobbled up "inside baseball."
Newspapers are losing readers today. Network and local TV news are losing viewers. Young people, bored by traditional fare, instead read the Web, which brims with "media criticism."
I doubt that’s entirely coincidental.
Alpert is a retired newsman in Albuquerque. Reach him at aatruth @swcp.com
December 30, 2007
ABQ Trib 12/26/07
Here's my column as published in the Albuquerque Tribune Dec. 26, 2007:
A NOTEBOOK TO FILL
A good newspaper needs to treat readers with respect – and challenge them to think deeply
By Arthur Alpert
So many columns to write, so little time.
I fear this newspaper will not exist in 2008. Mind you, I have no inside information, just speculation informed by anxiety.
In August, owner E.W. Scripps announced it would sell the Tribune or shut it down. Last week, executives at DW Turner, the PR firm here, said they’re near a purchase. What might follow?
Any new owner would have a big nut to cover - the cost of printing and distribution as well as staff. Ad revenues from businesses targeting 10,000 mostly boomer and older readers might not suffice.
Though God surely created opposable thumbs so that we might hold newspapers, young people prefer punching remotes, keyboards and jazzy phones.
A less capital intensive Web version of the Trib might supplant the physical newspaper.
Some loyal Tribune readers have organized as "Friends of the Albuquerque Tribune" to explore publishing a non-profit, cooperative paper. That’s intriguing, but it won’t happen tomorrow. Reach Ted Cloak (tcloak@unm.edu or 243-5069) for details.
If the Tribune goes away, the Albuquerque Journal will be more dominant than ever in Albuquerque and environs.
The Journal could mitigate the loss of diversity – and serve its own interests – by rethinking itself. After all, like daily newspapers all over the country, the morning paper needs readers.
The Journal can build on often-overlooked virtues, including
frequent (and costly) investigations of government. Coverage of entertainment, arts and books, plus useful features like the "Road Warrior" and "Roll Call," which tracks congressional voting.
But I’ll miss the Tribune if it goes away, because it offers . aggressive, broad-minded editing, which tells me editors assume I know a little and aspire to understand more.
The Journal, too, can treat its readers as adults, with life experience if not Ph.Ds, and a reading habit. No point in targeting the under 30s, their thumbs are idle, remember?
Respect means dropping the pretense to objectivity and giving reporters room to convey what the story means. Fairness, too, of course, in reporting and editing.
Newspapers, elbowed out of the breaking news business, are great at background and perspective. Do it. Exalt the "why." Make space by spiking dull official stories.
Life’s so complex. Hire more specialists, please, not generalists. Try new beats, like media. Why no ombudsman? Question newspapering as it’s always been done.
Having watched so many institutions - government, business, church, school - fail and lie, we readers have grown skeptical. Give us reason not to doubt your newspaper.
I’m out of words. I’m hoping that the Tribune’s voice soars in 2008. I wish you a Happy New Year.
Alpert is a semi-retired newsman in Albuquerque. Reach him at aatruth@swcp.com. His column appears the fourth Wednesday of the month.
