Topic Tuesday #32 2013/02/26 - "Yellow Journalism"
The term yellow journalism is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion.
Why do I want to talk about Yellow Journalism? As luck would have it I found out that CNN's Soledad O'Brien is being "bumped" from her spot in the morning to an ambiguous documentary production role. Soledad has been a veracious journalist. She asks hard questions where others ask the safe "softball" questions.She is doing her job, or at least, she is being a real journalist. She should be rewarded for it. She is not. She may have made some people rather uncomfortable. If you have ever faced an authority figure (like a parent) and had them ask you the questions that you really don't want to answer, you can get the feel of this uncomfortable feeling. So it's simple: Soledad wasn't doing her job the way the establishment wanted her to.
I am not going to put on my tin-foil hat and claim conspiracy, as I don't think I need to. It's obvious. What I am going to do is draw a parallel to Yellow Journalism. As the old timers will readily say, "it's to sell soap".
The organizations that deliver, and in some cases manufacture, our news are not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They are in it to make money, by selling advertising time. The advertisers want to sell to you. Your senses are being sold to the highest bidder. They walk a fine line between validity and entertainment. Let's follow the money.
- Widget Maker wants to sell Widgets or Soap. They hire a-
- Marketing Agency to make advertisements for widgets to the researched demographic group The Marketing Agency the buys airtime from-
- Network Sales who claims their "Product" (TV Show, News Program, etc) reaches sufficient numbers in that target audience where consumer's eyeballs or ears are enticed to buy while consuming the product that the Network is presenting -
- And you buy the widgets (or soap [where do you think Soap Operas came from?]) and thereby feed the Widget Maker money to continue supporting the Marketing Agency and they to continue to support the Product that you were passively enjoying anyway.
And the circle is complete.
Here's where it breaks the last shred of integrity:
The Network Sales team must provide updated ratings of the number of people reached. If the "Product" (that will be supported by the advertising) does not maintain their ratings the Marketing Agency pulls the advertisement and goes elsewhere. Here is where the "Product" gets polished to make it more appealing to demographics. Make the hosts prettier. Make the topics gripping but not always negative. Keep the guests happy. Don't make enemies. Don't give other properties free advertising. And so on. This is why your favorite programs (Firefly) and personalities (Soledad) get cut, and why "Toddlers and Tiaras" gets great ratings. It's also why there are script writers and auditions for REALITY TV... It's a lie, to sell soap, or widgets, or home lobotomy kits.
So what we have is a structure that is not treating "news" reporting in a purely agnostic and ethical way, but a sensationalized way They are apt to pump the news up and parade it around in motley before the target demographic, to sell the the widgets.
Special interest groups make requests, and in the interest of continuing to sell widget soap biscuits (now with added caffeine), they kowtow to those requests that are mutually beneficial.
"Stevens, Keep in mind that the next political candidate should want to buy lots of ad time from us and they will be kind to the interests serving our company when elected. We better play it safe and not enrage a potential ally on the Hill. Stop saying negative things and pointing out the facts they don't want to make headlines. You'll loose percentage points for our 25-45 demographic in Boise."
This is how it happens. It happens all the time.
So now that I've pointed it out, where do you get your news from?
