We all value the news. Even those of us who aren’t all that interested in wonky policy discussions or granular breakdowns of just how the new healthcare law is screwing us over, the news media is where we turn for the latest celebrity gossip, exciting pho recipes for a Friday night in, and which of our neighbors have been arrested for DUI.

We love it. We breathe it. Now more than ever, under the current administration, the line between news and entertainment can be incredibly difficult to find. For instance, if you Google ‘trump nuts’ you find a remarkably diverse first page of results. Amid a sea of clickbait from the right as well as the left we have a smattering of pseudonews from ostensibly reputable sources right next to legitimate news from someone with the Twitter handle @GayWonk.

Near the bottom of the page we have think pieces from the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Rolling Stone. The only thing notably missing is pornographic Photoshop work – even the images tab doesn’t yield anything more interesting than this:

These truly are exciting times, and material support for national scale journalism is the highest in recent memory. The New York Times is on pace to add a precedent setting 500,000 new subscribers in the first half of 2017. The New Yorker and The Atlantic both grew their circulation by more than 200% in the first quarter of this year. Even regional players like the Boston Globe are setting subscription records, and public radio stations from coast to coast have seen contributions skyrocket.

And so when I tell you that journalism is under attack, and that it’s losing, you can be forgiven for your incredulity.

For starters, right now we’re seeing a deliberate assault on a free press by an autocratic Trump regime. His desire to weaken the First Amendment is well documented, and journalists are actively being jailed in the US in the course of their jobs.

And certainly, recent reports of ‘fake news’ influencing the 2016 election, anecdotes of waning attention spans, and Baby Boomers’ collective confusion about what the hell Buzzfeed is have contributed to the notion that the Cronkite Days are over. The Pew Research Center confirms that the perceived credibility of the news media dropped precipitously from 2002-2012, even while accounting for partisan divides. The sensation is real.

In spite of an actual, literal attack on reporting and waning credibility, a different study sheds light on the most pressing threat to a well informed electorate.

The report shows that newspaper circulation has remained essentially flat, albeit with a slight descending trend over the last decade or so, and in spite of rapidly decreasing ad revenue, parent companies have remained generally profitable. This has been possible through culling reporters.

Newsroom employment in the US was consistent, nationally, from 1984 through 2006. From 2006 to 2014 it decreased by 50%, through layoffs and buyouts. You may remember when a number of newspapers issued their reporters iPhones and fired all the photographers. Reporters have never been asked to do so much with so little.

But it goes deeper than that, and for this we need a case study. For that case study, I propose Montana, because I live here. In this state we have, like, 7 cities: Missoula, Bozeman, Helena, Billings, Great Falls, Butte, and “The Flathead” which is essentially 3 or 4 towns that have oozed together in the absence of any kind of zoning regulation. Each of those cities have a local daily newspaper.

These newspapers are the only real resource for local and regional issues. Anyone can turn to the New York Times to keep tabs on that knucklehead in office is up to or mass murder in the desert, but in order to stay informed on the very real issues playing out in state level elections, we have no place to turn but our local paper.

Transparency and accountability in our elected officials is, after all, essential to even a barely functioning democracy*. And both transparency and accountability rely on a news media that at least pretends to be actual journalism.

But in the face of waning ad revenue, newspapers have been consolidated to pool diminishing resources and increase value to advertisers. And it turns out that four of the 7 “actual” cities in Montana (Missoula, Helena, Butte, and Billings) are home to local daily newspapers that are owned by Lee Enterprises, a $760 million media conglomerate. And according to opensecrets.org, which tracks political contributions, Lee Enterprises has been a generous political donor – giving nearly 90% of its contributions to Republican candidates and causes.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Editorial oversight and the publisher’s duty to pay the bills are separate. That is sanctimonious. As a counter point I offer you the recent endorsement by three of the four (Lee owned) editorial boards in Montana’s “cities” of Greg Gianforte in the upcoming special election to fill Ryan Zinke’s newly vacant congressional seat.

And again, I’m pretty sure I know what’s going through your head. It’s probably something like, “That Gianforte? The one who’s running as a ‘science and technology’ candidate, but is on the record as believing that Jesus and the dinosaurs were contemporaries? The same dude who sued the State of Montana to challenge our unbelievably popular stream access law? The guy who keeps getting caught on tape selling us down the river to lobbyists? More than once? That guy? Really?” Right?

Nevermind that the Democratic candidate in this election is hardly a diamond in the rough. These papers are more than free to forego an endorsement. The Missoulian’s editorial on the issue hinged essentially on the idea that Gianforte is marginally better equipped to effect some policy, any policy at all, really, regardless of ideology, than his adversary Rob Quist. That was really it. Here’s a direct quote:

“When asked whether he agrees with the scientific consensus on evolution and the approximate age of the Earth, his answer was “I can’t honestly say because I wasn’t there.” That answer, coming from an engineer, is revealing – and deeply troubling. He absolutely must not allow his ideology to drive his public votes on things like science funding.

Gianforte’s views on women’s issues are similarly troubling. He would de-fund Planned Parenthood without any acknowledgement of the life-saving and quality-of-life-improving work done by this organization, or any plan to provide that care to women who would be left without a provider if Planned Parenthood were gone. He needs to understand that nearly half of Montanans are women, and he must represent their interests and not just his own.”

That’s from a fucking endorsement. Let that sink in.

Conservative dollars are consolidating the local and regional news media that are solely able to cover local, regional, and state candidates. These are the small, flyover races that have seen millions of dollars in campaign spending from centralized conservative groups like Americans For Prosperity, the Koch Brothers funding machine.

The journalists and reporters holding officials accountable are, by and and large, honest, hardworking men and women of integrity. But with corrupted leadership and spineless editorial oversight, we’re watching right now as the foxes move in to guard the hen house.

Readers and voters need to dig deep in order to find credible reporting, or turn to independent journalism. This can come from citizen journalists (some of whom have credibility issues of their own), or from independently funded news media. The Missoula Independent, for instance, is a free weekly paper known for high quality long form reporting on issues across Western Montana.

But limited resources means these smaller papers can’t get every scoop. Just two weeks ago reporters and staff at The Indie read in the cross town daily that they had just been purchased by Lee Enterprises.

 

 

*or republic, if you get off on pedantics. also if this is a distinction you feel strongly about I give it 60/40 odds you follow at least 2 men’s rights activists on twitter

Leave This Blank:Leave This Blank Too:Do Not Change This:

Your email:

 

Like