What’s the most important national news story thus far of 2005? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not the president’s State of the Union Address, the FY 2006 budget proposal or Condoleezza Rice’s appointment as Secretary of State. In fact, you probably haven’t even heard of it, and it might be the biggest story of all.
In early January, Armstrong Williams, a conservative newspaper columnist and host of the popular “Armstrong Williams Show,” disclosed that he had received $240,000 in federal funds to tout the No Child Left Behind Act. Right-wing pundit Maggie Gallagher admitted Jan. 27 that she had accepted $21,500 to push President Bush’s $300 million agenda aiming to strengthen American families through marriage. The very next day the Department of Health and Human Services reported that a third columnist, Mike McManus, had been paid $10,000 to bolster support for the White House’s marriage plan.
Finally, in perhaps the most disturbing episode yet, the White House declared that one Jeff Gannon, who had been issued a pass for presidential news conferences and who was notorious for asking questions loaded suspiciously in the president’s favor, was actually masquerading under an assumed name, on the take from a well-to-do friend of the Bush family, and ran a number of Internet websites of, shall we say, questionable repute.
One would certainly think that the propagandizing of U.S. citizens in the information age would elicit some sort of response from the major media. After all, this seems far too Orwellian to actually be happening. Nonetheless, the media coverage of what ought to be a tremendously important issue has been terrifyingly lacking.
A Lexis-Nexis search of major newspapers is representative of this alarming trend. A search of last month’s newspaper articles for “Armstrong Williams,” “Maggie Gallagher” and “Mike McManus” returned seven items. A search for “Michael Jackson” returned 790. Does anyone else see a problem here?
While the King of Pop is always sure to provide a good story, the vast disparity in media coverage reflects a disturbing amount of trivialization and self-censorship by the very institutions that are supposed to be forthcoming with the truth. The media seem far too eager to report on issues that, while interesting, are in reality fairly mundane. Coverage of Michael Jackson, the Chandra Levy case, and even Laci Peterson are representative of this phenomenon, as they hold virtually no significance for the average citizen. The “human interest” story falls along these lines as well.
Self-censorship is proving to be another alarming issue brought to the journalistic fore. Major news outlets are seemingly shying away from reporting what is in fact a gross breach of both government/press separation as well as the media’s own ugly little secret — that some members of one of the world’s most honorable professions might be receiving kickbacks.
Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, who are the chairman and vice chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, respectively, have penned an absolutely terrific discourse on the obligations of the journalist to the readership. Their “Elements of Journalism” lays out “Ten Commandments” for aspiring writers. Among these are an obligation to the truth, independence from those whom they cover and the obligation to make the significant interesting and relevant. Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher, Mike McManus and “Jeff Gannon” have failed the public in their work. More disturbing than the efforts of these individuals, however, is the sad state of affairs apparent in our major media outlets. When the very institutions that the public expects to provide fair and comprehensive coverage fail to do so, America as a whole is in serious trouble.
It comes down to this: in 2005, U.S. citizens reading the Chicago Tribune, New York Times or Washington Post should expect coverage worthy of the best newspapers in the world — not of the USSR’s Pravda.
Gabe Cohen ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in journalism.
