From: Larry Colen
On Jan 30, 2011, at 2:55 PM, Steven Desjardins wrote:
Wasn't is always? Most major papers worked on a "for profit"
basis, and went out of business when they didn't make money.
These days here are so many sources competing for your attention.
Remember yellow journalism? Sensationalism has become the norm,
unfortunately.
I remember hearing on an NPR story that it used to be that companies
were content with a small profit from their news department, but now
that money comes more from stock market performance, people will
jetison companies that don't make enough profit. I believe that there
was also a time that Networks and stations would regard their news
department as a means of enhancing their image, rather than a primary
source of income.
But, I could be completely wrong, it's been known to happen.
Used to be a broadcast license was held "in the public interest". If
the corporation that held that license didn't serve the public interest,
the FCC could take the license back. Network & local news were how the
corporations demonstrated they were operating "in the public interest".
Government regulation used to restrain corporate misconduct. That's no
longer the case, and the corporations that control the media have no
more incentive to engage in honest dealing with the public than any
other corporate miscreant.
Newspapers profited from selling advertising. The greater the paper's
circulation, the more advertising revenue. The papers were careful about
stories that affected their major advertisers. Editorials appeared on
the editorial page, not in the reportage. With the advent of the 24hour
cable "news" cycle and the internet as an alternative source of news,
newspaper circulation and advertising revenues declined.
As circulation dropped, newspapers adopted practices that appear to to
me to accelerate the decline in circulation, which in turn reduces the
constraints that kept them "honest"; the wall separating editorializing
and reportage crumbles ... and further accelerates the decline in
circulation.
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