Presidents And The Media

This isn’t entirely about Louisville, but it is interesting.

Depth Reporting (which is based in Louisville) has a piece about how presidents get the news and what that means. Notably, Richard Nixon avoided the media and relied instead on his advisors’ reports.

The summaries were prepared by staffers Lyndon K. (‘Mort’) Allin and Patrick Buchanan. Although the summaries were advertised as the best way for Nixon to get an objective, cross-section of news coverage, they often were written in a way that fueled “the president’s already burning resentments and biases,”

I interviewed Bill Maher recently (disclosure, WFPL is sponsoring his December 5th show) and he warned (in a joking but serious way) about mainstream media that now caters to existing biases. A person can spend the entire day only hearing people he or she agrees with. Opinion isn’t news and facts aren’t opinion, but the difference is hard to tell sometimes.

Some folks say this is fine. They argue that a news consumer should be savvy enough to know a reporter’s bias and cynical enough to seek out the other side. While media access is faster and easier than ever, I think this worldview ignores the fact that not everyone is as media literate as most reporters and media theorists. It also makes people work harder to get fair news, thereby allowing reporters to get a lazy and loose in their presentation of facts. If everyone presents a different side, what inspiration does a journalist have to present them all in one piece?

I don’t know where media is going, and while there are a few troubling trends, I’m not hiding in the basement and cradling my Marshall McLuhan books just yet. Are you?

AP Lays Off Biesk

Jake is reporting this latest move from the Associated Press:

…it’s extra-sad with the news that the Associated Press has laid off Joe Biesk, a veritable fixture of Frankfort.

Watch What You Say

Steve Nunn’s former attorney Astrida Lemkins has subpoenaed the Herald-Leader to find out who posted mean comments about her.

Specifically, Lemkins wants to pursue action against user Supercalifragilistic.

Herald-Leader editor Peter Baniak said the comments in question have been removed from the site, and the user name has been blocked from Kentucky.com for violating the Web site’s terms of service.

“At this time, we are attempting to contact the commenter to see if he or she wishes to object to the subpoena and assert his or her First Amendment right to anonymous speech,” Baniak said in a statement Wednesday.

In her lawsuit, Lemkins is seeking damages of an unspecified amount, including those incurred for her pain and suffering.

Your thoughts?

TV Sweeps Review

Rick Redding has a wrapup of some recent TV sweeps stories, including a look at Metro Corrections and another examination into Metro Council funds.

Belo Takes A Beating

WHAS-TV’s parent company Belo Corporation has posted a 150 million dollar loss for the last quarter. There’s no word on what this means for WHAS, but let’s hope news coverage remains strong. As we’ve seen with newspapers, cutting news staff doesn’t help much in terms of audience growth.

The Dallas-based TV giant’s losses are likely due to falling advertising revenue.

From Business First:

Total revenue decreased 17 percent in the third quarter when compared to the same period last year. Spot ad revenue was down 21 percent, including political ads.

The automotive advertising category alone plummeted 36 percent over last year.

Wrapping Up October 7

Here’s what we reported on today:

• In Depth – MSD Considering Buyouts To Prevent Floods
• Another Drug Toss Set For Thursday Through Saturday
• Conway Applauds Gouging Law Ruling
• Indiana Launches Flu Shot Campaign
• Blanton Leaving Governor’s Office
• Arts Groups Offer Discounted Tickets Again This Season
• City, Firefighters Approaching Deal
• In Depth: Governor’s Arts Awards Handed Out In Frankfort

More Changes At Mojo

Last week’s post about Rick Redding’s move has attracted a few hits and a few replies. Mojo Master Keith commented that the site will go through some changes to better fit all of the new content onto the front page. I can’t wait to see it. I just hope it’s nothing like this page from my old hometown. Although, that site’s current layout is better than it used to be, with that photoshopped banner of the St. Louis skyline. Notice how the same building shows up like 5 times? Also, the sky looks like the end of Ghostbusters 2.

Are You Still Reading Redding?

Last weekend Rick Redding left The ‘Ville Voice for Louisville Mojo. He’s blogging there now.

I imagine the Voice’s audience remains the same, since the site had multiple authors and wasn’t exactly driven by one individual’s personality. I wonder, though, how many readers have migrated over to Mojo.

According to Redding, he’s already making “a big dent in the news cycle,” but as a media member, I have yet to notice any Mojo-shaped dents. That’s not to diminish the site’s new dedication to reportage, of course. It’s an exciting development.

I’m happy for Redding and I hope he’s successful. It is a little harder to read his work now, though–the Mojo site hurts my eyes and his blog’s RSS is truncated. If I see a headline I like, I’ll endure lots of animations and occasional pictures of shirtless people. But I’m an impatient snob. Anyway, I’ll keep reading and hope for a more 2.0 interface soon.

Are you reading the new blog?

Very Enthusiastic Media Amateurs

The folks who clicked on our Fancy Farm post may be interested in this. Der Spiegel has an interview with Wired editor in chief Chris Anderson.

Anderson can sometimes be cold and forward thinking to the point of nihilism or idealism:

SPIEGEL: Your local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, is fighting for survival. If it was to disappear tomorrow …

Anderson: … I wouldn’t notice. I don’t even know what I’d be missing.

Anderson says he doesn’t use the words media or news, since they’re now meaningless. It’s bold, and he offers no terms to replace the obsolete ones.

There are no other words. We’re in one of those strange eras where the words of the last century don’t have meaning. What does news mean to you, when the vast majority of news is created by amateurs? Is news coming from a newspaper, or a news group or a friend? I just cannot come up with a definition for those words. Here at Wired, we stopped using them.

He goes on to speculate that media may become a hobby for reporters. Read it here. His predictions are daring, and Wired’s patron saint Marshall McLuhan would be proud.

Fancy Farm And The State Of Media

I was thinking of writing something about this weekend’s annual Fancy Farm picnic, but Rick Redding already did.

It used to be a no-brainer on the first weekend in August. Every political reporter in Kentucky spent the weekend in western Kentucky and got familiar with barbecue, the heat and heated politics.

That was before media started watching their pennies and foregoing most travel. And while the prospect of seeing what Jerry Abramson will do at Fancy Farm, and hearing what is likely the true start of the Republican primary for Jim Bunning’s seat, may be enticing, not every media outlet will be there.

He also mentions that KET has decided not to broadcast live from the picnic because it isn’t an election year. (Kentucky Public Radio’s Tony McVeigh will be there, and we’ll have updates on WFPL.org.)

Shrinking budgets for most media outlets will be a reality for a while, and that will make the outlets and the consumers rethink news. If we accept that live and/or on location coverage isn’t financially possible, would you rather read up-to-the minute posts from well-known and unknown citizen journalists who are in the area or take in TV, radio and print reports from mainstream sources a little later? Either way, there will be filters–either the bloggers’ personal preferences or the preferences of the maisntream reporters, editors, directors and censors. Ideally, all of those gatekeepers would be mindful of ethics as they choose what to report.

Tell us your thoughts in the comments.