Here's an urgently needed, pre-election reform plan for the media

Everybody seems to hate the news media these days, with particular disdain for the political press. We know what right-wing and conservative Americans believes, which can be summed up in the dismissive term “fake news.”

But right-leaners are not alone. I wrote a column in the Guardian this week, encouraging Kamala Harris to do either a press conference or a lengthy sit-down interview with a journalist so that voters can hear more about her positions and plans — and to see how the candidate responds under questioning. Not everything can be done in a scripted stump speech, after all. I wrote: “She is running for the highest office in the nation, perhaps the most powerful perch in the world, and she owes it to every US citizen to be frank and forthcoming about what kind of president she intends to be. To tell us — in an unscripted, open way — what she stands for.”

Afterwards, I heard vehement protests from many readers. The message was clear: They strongly oppose this idea because they see the political press as thoroughly broken. They don’t think Harris would be treated fairly, nor would important information emerge. It would be all horserace, click bait and fake controversy.

Here’s how one reader put it: “The media has proven itself to be a bad-faith, both-sidesing, Trump-leaning, Trump-excusing gaggle.”

And perhaps you’re familiar with the righteous indignation expressed by MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell recently in a tirade against the mainstream press that drew plenty of agreement.

 

But what to do? Journalism is important, and doing it right is crucial.

A non-partisan, grassroots organization called the Media and Democracy Project has just published an open letter to executives, publishers and union leaders of major media organizations.

You might recognize the names of some of the nearly 4,000 letter signers: Norman Ornstein, Mark Jacob and Ruth Ben-Ghiat. I have respect for each one of them and their perspectives, and have quoted them all in my own work.

Here’s what Ornstein, an emeritus scholar of the American Enterprise Institute, had to say: “Democracy is at stake — and as the open letter so powerfully demands, we need our news media to step up and be responsible.”

The organization has produced, after a lot of thoughtful work, 18 recommendations for the news media, with a particular focus on period between now and November’s election. These include:

• Prioritize substantive coverage of the issues that matter to voters’ lives;
• Make headlines accurate and informative, not clickbait;
• Stop making predictions and pushing polls at the expense of issue coverage;
• Celebrate and uplift election workers, voters, and the election process;
• Don’t set aside moral judgment when covering obvious lies and bigotry;
• Hold politicians to account for their positions, statements, and behavior, as well as those of their party’s leader;
• Expose candidates who foment political violence.

The question, of course, is whether decision-makers in the media will listen. Based on my experience in newsrooms at the New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere, it’s not likely. But you never know. There are surprises — who, after all, could have predicted the presidential campaign would look like it does right now?

And you, dear subscribers, can have a role in this by helping to spread the word about these worthy reforms. You can circulate this post, you can read the materials in longer form, you can email individual journalists or editors, you can post about it on social media, you can ask your friends and neighbors to get behind it.

I’m very appreciative of all your interest and support, and all of your comments which I continue to read with great interest and to respond to as many as I can. Welcome to all the new subscribers. We’ve hit the 11,000 mark, a combined number for paid and unpaid subscribers. All of my posts are free and without a paywall; the comments are for paid subscribers.

I’ll leave you with this question — if you were to select a particular member of the media to interview Harris in the next few weeks, whom would you choose?

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