Actual News Stories I’d Like to See the News Media Report

Much has been written about the steady demise of what was formerly known as mainstream news media in America. Newspapers, magazines, TV and radio news have all been slow to comprehend and embrace the sea change ways that we communicate today, driven by the online digital revolution.

What’s worse, mainstream media finds itself driven by inane features about Kim Kardashian and Sarah Palin, ignoring to a shocking level what’s really happening in our nation and the world, ranging from a fragile economy still on the ropes and crumbling infrastructure of the nation to deplorable human rights atrocities in Africa. There are atrocities in the U.S., as well, that the media usually turns a blind eye toward.

Good reporting: Kira Kay and Jason Maloney of the Bureau for International Reporting

Meaningful and significant news issues are often complex, most often requiring more time than 16 second soundbites and more skills, accomplishments and knowledge than you get from a would-be actor who ends up reading TV news, despite having good hair.

The average TV reporters might be more skilled in theatrics but they are no authentic journalist. Many lack contacts, curiosity and reporting skills. Most never ask the significant question … why?

I must point out a few exceptions – PBS NewsHour, Frontline, HDNet’s “World Report” and “Dan Rather Reports,” and freelance investigative reporting work by Kira Kay, Jason Maloney and their Bureau for International Reporting are outstanding and meaningful.

The rest of America’s mainstream news media is living in a retirement home. It’s been dozing and is awakening to find itself trivialized and in a much different and fast-evolving new media world.

Did you know that the format for most TV news has not changed in about 50 years? It’s true. NPR’s news format hasn’t changed much since the 1970s. Mainstream news has made itself old-age despite technology.

So, let me try to help out mainstream news with a list of stories I think should be covered:

BP's oil spill claims fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg defends the slowness of his process.

1. Kenneth Feinberg – the guy is making $10-million a year to process claims of people whose lives were turned upside-down by the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He’s got a cool three-year contract. $30-million, guaranteed. No wonder the claims process is shamefully slow and cumbersome. No wonder people along the Gulf coast are suffering. Feinberg’s got no incentive to get things solved. Why?
2. The Lincoln Group – How did a British salesman and a former U.S. Marine non-commissioned officer in procurement end up landing hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military public relations contracts in Iraq? They had no public relations or communications experience. I wonder … is that called, war profiteering? At one point, I know they asked a major PR agency in Washington to instruct them in the basics of PR but were turned down. I also know that real and professional PR agencies bid on the contracts only to see The Lincoln Group get the business, time after time, often sending interns to the Middle East. With so many legitimately qualified PR agencies, why were they were awarded the lucrative contracts?
3. Level Orange – The U.S. has been at terror threat Level Orange since August 10, 2006. Orange is the next to the highest threat level. It has seemingly become permanent or at least Homeland Security has printed bunches of signs suggesting it is permanent. Why?
4. Complacent society – I grew up in the generation that took to the streets in mostly peaceful demonstrations against America’s Vietnam involvement. Why are people so complacent today? Loads of people are frustrated and angry … and they may have good reasons. Why, then, do they just go shopping?
5. TSA or Transportation Security Administration – Have you ever wondered, as have I, where they get those people who work at airport security? What are the standards? How come top members of Congress, like John Boehner, simply are escorted around airport security, leaving all of us to stand in line, shoes off? I’ve seen TSA workers at Washington National Airport sneak past checkpoints, too. I can show you the sliding glass door they use. So much for effective security …

For me, it’s come down to this … Most of the characters in what is today called, “the news media,” lack curiosity. They don’t ask, “How come…?”

I trust the news that comedian Jon Stewart reports far more than I believe anything reported by CNN, Fox and the mainstream networks … and Stewart doesn’t even have to leave his New York studio to do a better job. And, “The Washington Post?” It’s fallen to “once was” status through poor leadership.

Related posts:

1. The News Is Dead. Long Live the News!
2. Next-generation online newsrooms bring stories alive
3. Anatomy of How to Report TV News
4. Brand Journalism Creates Another Viable News Outlet
5. Mainstream Media Tries to Wake Up

Tags: David Henderson, Featured, News Group Net LLC, News Strategies

Category: Brand Journalism, Featured