Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-03T19:12:15.490Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Freedom of the Press

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2009

William F. Baker
William F. Baker
Affiliation:
Fordham University, 113 West 60th Street, Suite 1121B, New York, NY 10023, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The US media are undergoing a massive transformation, approaching a crisis in journalism, which may portend similar issues in Europe and the rest of the world. Historically, most professional journalism has been done by the print media, especially newspapers. Today, American newspapers are in a state of collapse with circulation dropping at a rapid rate and profitability going to nil or negative. This business is leading to an information crisis that is already having effects on the society and will likely become even more profound, polarizing and perhaps misinforming an entire nation. Print journalists have been the primary suppliers to the electronic media, including television and the internet. This article supplements a speech given at the American Academy in Berlin in May, 2008. It summarizes US media metrics and raises issues of concern about the sustainability of serious journalism in America. While the internet has been the cause of this dilemma, the author sees no economic model that will allow the web in the short term to support major, serious reporting at a large scale. Is the rest of the world about to experience a similar crisis or are media models different enough to avoid such a dramatic fall? This article reflects Baker’s view as a longtime media executive and an academic.

Type
Articles
Information
European Review , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 81 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Notes and References

1. Soft Economy ‘Speeds U.S. Newspaper Decline, Job Cuts’, by Anick Jesdanun, Associated Press, August 29, 2008, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/29/weak-economy-speeds-newsp_n_122542.htmlGoogle Scholar
2. ‘Buying The War’, Bill Moyers Journal, PBS, Wednesday, April 25, 2007 http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/watch.htmlGoogle Scholar
3.Handbook Of Independent Journalism, US Info, What Is News, July 2006 http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/journalism/whatis.htmGoogle Scholar
4.Hindman, D. B. and Wiegand, K. (2008) The big three’s prime-time decline: a technological and social context. Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, March 1, 2008 http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:NoLKHNt-J9UJ:www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/177361653.html+broadcast+ratings+major+broadcast+networks+decline+1980s+2000s&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=usCrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. TV Slips Past Newspapers for Tops in Ad Revenue; Internet Wins in 3 Years, Hollywood Reporter, August 5, 2008, http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/2008/08/05/tv-slips-past-newspapers-for-tops-in-ad-revenue-internet-wins-in-3-years/Google Scholar
6. Most marketers say television advertising has become less effective in the past two years, but many are interested in exploring new ad formats and forms of video commercials, according to the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research. http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/marketers-tv-advertising-less-effective-than-two-years-ago-3521/Google Scholar
7. State Of The News Media 2007, Project For Excellence In Journalism, http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2007/narrative_localtv_publicattitudes.asp?cat=7&media=7Google Scholar
8. State Of The News Media 2004, Project For Excellence In Journalism, http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2004/narrative_localtv_intro.asp?media=6Google Scholar
9.McKinsey Quarterly, September 15, 2008 http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Fast-forwarding_digital_cable_1283_abstractGoogle Scholar
10. Social Media Optimization, April 2007, http://social-media-optimization.com/2007/04/page/2/Google Scholar
11. J. Garofoli (2006) Those wrinkles aren’t from squinting – YouTube, MySpace, computer gaming – a big chunk of users approach middle age, by, San Francisco Chronicle, October 29, 2006, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/29/MNGUJM26NE1.DTL&type=techGoogle Scholar
12. CNN Plunges Into Citizen Journalism, ‘CNN Exchange’ looks to utilize user-submitted content to report a new perspective on news events, OhmyNews, January 8, 2006 http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?article_class=4&no=308668&rel_no=1Google Scholar
13. A. Orlowski (2005) Wikipedia founder admits to serious quality problems. The Register, October 18, 2005, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/wikipedia_quality_problem/Google Scholar
14. H. S. Randall (1858) Thomas Jefferson to Edward Corrigan, Life of Thomas Jefferson (Originally from Oxford University).Google Scholar
15.Dwight, T. and Russell, O. (1933) History of the Hartford Convention (New York/Boston: N. & J. White/Russell).Google Scholar
16. Webpronews April 3, 2008, ‘Craigslist: Little Ads, $81 Million in Revenue’. http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/04/03/craigslist-little-ads-81-million-in-revenueGoogle Scholar
17.Kohut, A. (2002) Young people are reading… everything but newspapers. Columbia Journalism Review, Issue 4, July/August, http://cjrarchives.org/issues/2002/4/voice-kohut.aspGoogle Scholar
18. Newspapers impacted by internet. Refreshed Media, August 21, 2008, http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:ig4YKkOzU68J:www.refreshedmedia.com/news/Newspapers-impacted-by-internet-news/129/63/+newspapers+have+not+found+a+way+to+make+money+on+the+Internet+new+york+times&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=usGoogle Scholar
19. C. Ide and K. Vashisht (2006) Today’s investigative reporters lack resources. May 28, 2006, Arizona Republic http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special01/0528bolles-stateofreporting.htmlGoogle Scholar
20. The state of the news media 2007. Project For Excellence in Journalism, http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2007/narrative_localtv_newsinvestment.asp?cat=5&media=7Google Scholar
21. The state of the news media 2008. Project For Excellence in Journalism, http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2008/narrative_networktv_newsinvestment.php?cat=5&media=6Google Scholar
22. Schenck vs. United States. US Supreme Court, Jean Goodwin, Northwestern University, http://faculty-web.at.northwestern.edu/commstud/freespeech/cont/cases/schenck.htmlGoogle Scholar
23. New York Times vs. Sullivan, US Supreme Court, Jean Goodwin, Northwestern University, http://faculty-web.at.northwestern.edu/commstud/freespeech/cont/cases/nytsullivan.htmlGoogle Scholar
24. Decrees of 1933 (Nazi Germany) John Jay College Of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/ob60.htmland 1991 Andersen Lecture, Vitaly Korotich, Chairman of the Soviet Weekly literary and political review Ogonyok, http://www.wpfc.org/AL1991.htmlGoogle Scholar
25. In the US broadcasting industry, a booklet called Red Channels listed 151 people with suspected loyalty whom networks and stations boycotted. Names included Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Bem Grauer of NBC, Lena Horne, Langston Hughes, Burl Ives, Sam Jaffe, Gypsy Rose Lee, Arthur Miller, Henry Morgan, Edward G. Robinson, Artie Shaw, William Shirer, Howard K. Smith, Orsen Welles, among many others; E. Barnouw (1968) The Golden Web (New York: Oxford University Press), p. 266.Google Scholar
26. Sen. McCarthy’s statement that he had a list of communists in the US State Department, in an address to an audience in Wheeling, W. Va., on February 9, 1950, created a nationwide stir; E. Barnouw (1968) The Golden Web (New York: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
27. W. G. Thomas III Television (2004) News and the Civil Rights Struggle: The Views in Virginia and Mississippi, University of Virginia. Southern Spaces, http://www.southernspaces.org/contents/2004/thomas/4b.htmCrossRefGoogle Scholar
28. The Civil Rights Movement and Television, Museum of Broadcast Communications, Chicago, http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/civilrights/civilrights.htmGoogle Scholar
29. Vietnam on Television: The First Television War. Museum Of Broadcast Communications, Chicago, http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/V/htmlV/vietnamonte/vietnamonte.htmGoogle Scholar
30.Sharkey, J. E. (2003) Airing graphic footage. American Journalism Review, May, http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=2989Google Scholar
31. B. Baker (2007) Flashback: ‘The Unnewsworthy Holocaust: TV News and Terror in Cambodia’. NewsBusters, August 23, 2007 http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2007/08/23/flashback-unnewsworthy-holocaust-tv-news-terror-cambodiaGoogle Scholar
32. In 1983, under Reagan, the 3-year ownership rule, requiring buyers of TV and radio stations to keep them 3 years after buying them, was rescinded. Stations could now be sold the next day after they were bought, and that brought in financial speculators into station ownership. W. F. Baker and G. Dessart (1998) Down The Tube (New York: BasicBooks), pp. 137–138; see also ‘Bigger, richer, happier: Reagan policies changed landscape for media,’ Richard Prince’s ‘Journal-isms’, Maynard Institute Website, June 11, 20084 http://www.maynardije.org/columns/dickprince/040611_prince/Google Scholar
33. The Fairness Doctrine, requiring both sides of controversial issues be presented on TV and radio broadcast stations, was eliminated in 1987, allowing opinionated shows such as Rush Limbaugh’s. D. Henninger (2005) Rush to victory: why is Harry Reid acting like David Koresh? Because conservatives are winning. Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2005 http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/dhenninger/?id=110006626; W. F. Baker and G. Dessart (1998) Down The Tube (New York: BasicBooks), pp. 19–21.Google Scholar
34.Dotinga, R. (2008) Clear channel: profits of doom. North County Times, May 7, 2008, http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/05/07/entertainment/radio/z2c7200cef823ebc588257441007c27b3.txtGoogle Scholar
35. S. Kalb (2007) RIP local news. Hamden Daily News, January 2, 2007, http://www.hamdendailynews.com/ArchivesKalbJanFebMarch07.htmlGoogle Scholar
36. M. Brown (2006) Abandoning the news. Journalism’s Crisis of Confidence: A Challenge for the Next Generation, A Report of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2006 http://www.carnegie.org/pdf/journalism_crisis/journ_crisis_full.pdfGoogle Scholar
37. CBS said to consider use of CNN in reporting. New York Times, April 8, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/business/media/08cbs.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=cbs%20cnn%20news&st=cse&oref=sloginGoogle Scholar
38. News and news databases. The Spire Project http://spireproject.com/newswire.htmGoogle Scholar
39. The soft economy is accelerating the newspaper industry’s downward spiral in the US. Associated Press, September 15, 2008, http://article.wn.com/view/2008/08/30/Soft_economy_speeds_US_newspaper_decline_job_cutsGoogle Scholar
40. During World War II the post of President’s Director of Censorship was created to oversee media coverage. Executive Order 8985, issued by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt December 19, 1941, creating the office of the President’s Director of Censorship: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16068Google Scholar
41.Shepard, A. C. (1995) The pundit explosion. American Journalism Review, September 1995; http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=1634Google Scholar
42. Boston Globe and Baltimore Sun close foreign bureaus. Boston Globe, January 24, 2007 http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/01/24/globe_to_close_last_three_foreign_bureaus/Google Scholar
43. Radio revenues breakout provided in ‘State of the news media 2008’. Project for Excellence in Journalism, http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2008/narrative_radio_economics.php?cat=3&media=10Google Scholar
44.Barnouw, E. (1968) The Golden Web. The Golden Web (New York: Oxford University Press), pp. 170–171.Google Scholar
45.Glaser, M. (2008) Can newspapers rejuvenate or reinvent classified ads? PBS Media Shift, June 2, 2008 http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2008/06/can_newspapers_rejuvenate_or_r.htmlGoogle Scholar
46. More than ‘1,000 journalists killed in 10 years while reporting’, New York Times, March 6, 2007; http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/world/07safety.htmlGoogle Scholar