"WWN" Days One and Two

Not that I've become an apologist for the national media, but I've obviously spent some time trying to figure out why things have degraded over time (I do more than simply bitch about things, ya know). No surprise that everything comes back to economics:

- Newspapers and their staffs have shrunk along with advertising revenue
- Magazines are little more than a loose network of free-lance writers
- Cable news networks have to invent and editorialize to fill 24 hours
- Online sites have to cater to the lowest common denominator to secure high traffic

When TIME magazine lays off senior staff and brings interns in to handle their duties, then you know the (pardon the pun) times are a changin'. Although, I suppose some could argue that magazines, cable news networks and online sites have always wrestled these issues (but clearly it's worse today than it has ever been).

Newspapers are the real victim here, and believe it or not, I find myself bummed about that. For one, they represent tradition. As you know, before the digital age, papers were THE source. And even today, they appear to be the last bastion for substantive reporting. In my last post, I said there were some stories I'd like to highlight, and not coincidentally, most of these were from newspapers.

We'll get to those in the coming days, since I found it refreshing that a few journalists and editors still care to do this thing the right way. And despite the fact that wire stories increase their ink domination in most metropolitan newspapers each day, your local scoop reporter isn't dead yet.

For today, in the interest of touching on the "topics we should be focusing on", I'd like to hit on this notion of substantive reporting. Back in the day, journalists were taught to write for the 30-minute reader, 3-minute reader and 30-second reader. With the digital age, we've moved it down to the 3-second reader, so obviously we've lowered the bar even further.

The result is you have a dearth of articles that transcend the 'sexy' and 'bizarre.' Again, it's a lowest-common-denominator world, and we're just living in it. So, what we get are a slew of basic, wire-fodder pieces about whatever trend or topic is occupying us at the time, but few, if any, stories that dig deeper. Instead of hardcore news analysis, we get re-directed to the editorial pages or whatever beat columinist has a 'take' on the matter. All of that is fine, but there was a time when news did more than just placate our strange desire for the headline and lead paragraph. It made us think, it did the research for us and it gave us plenty more to question and process.

I mentioned Barry Bonds before, and this is one of those timely topics that speaks to things I think we ought to be focusing on. Purely my opinion, and I completely realize that a number of people could care less about sports (not to mention the fact that the over-saturation of Barry would prevent a number of people from considering yet another Barry story). But it's not the notion of Barry or steroids or baseball that has prompted me to raise this; there's nothing intrinsic about these elements that warrant merit or attention. It's the fact that this is such a great example of the media completely missing the point, or better yet, the meat of the story.

Let's get right down to it -- Barry Bonds is a pariah. Not a victim, but a pariah, and Major League Baseball is more than happy to accept that. What's more, the media is just as satisfied to let Bonds be the focus of their news. Now, I'd never excuse Barry's personal responsibility in all this, but I have to tell you that if I were in his shoes, I wouldn't own up to it either. Not because I don't have integrity or because I don't care about the fans, but because MLB has put Barry in a no-win situation. If he comes clean, he has to own the entire weight of baseball's steroid era, while MLB gets a free pass. Unfortunately, that part has already been written in the history books, regardless of what Barry does from here on out.

But the fact remains that MLB created this environment, allowed it to exist (some would say, supported it), and was all-too happy to sell out America's National Pastime for the sake ratings and attendance. Today, they are mum on the matter, and I find it absolutely shocking that more journalists aren't taking the league to task over this whole thing. The focus has been and continues to be on individual players, and to me that's the sucker's way out. It's easy for writers to focus on icons of the game and all the tactical matters that surround each. It's a much bigger mountain to climb when you start talking about the system and all of the things that go on behind closed doors.

And let's face it ... the media knows it will have an easier time selling stories about what Barry injects in his ass than pieces that attempt to deconstruct the minds and secrets of Bud Selig and Donald Fehr. Barry's drama will always outweigh that of the establishment, particularly in light of the variables at play here -- namely the fact that Barry is poised to break the most sacred record in baseball.

Interestingly, that record is precisely why steroids and Barry are issues in baseball and NOT in any of the other major sports. If an unlikable guy in the NFL were about to break storied records, you can bet that questions would be raised, deserved or not.

Bottom line here -- if we have to accept that the media is going to go ga-ga over various topics, then is it too much to ask for a little substance? And from a business point of view, wouldn't it behoove a news outlet or two to step up to the plate and deliver this type of reporting on a consistent and priority basis, considering how competitive the industry is? For the record, the crap you see on Dateline, 20-20, etc., doesn't count. The pieces are too editorial (just listen to the reporter's inflections when narrating the 'news'); they're riddled with the same scare-tactic crap you find on the local news; and the facts are hand-picked to support the position, instead of the position reflecting the total facts.

If you come across good examples, I'd love to see them. In the interest of being 'fair and balanced', I'd like to highlight these stories as often as possible.