Eraser wrote:
Isn't that contradictory?
As I see it, mainstream media does want to uphold this image of being a credible source, something worth the people's time. If they lose that image, no one would read it anymore. The problem is that this image conflicts with the way many of them work. They have their agenda's, either forced upon them by commercial interests or self-inflicted through some sort of (political) conviction. They should just be more open and clear about the behind-the-scenes processes.
That obviously is an utopian idea because everyone will simply think they're getting away with it anyway, but we have to reach for what we think is right and not give up on that simply because reality is dictated by assholes.
Of course it's not contradictory. I want my girlfriend to stop calling me messy, but that doesn't mean I'm about to stop kicking my shoes off as soon as I walk through the door. I'd love to be perceived independently of how I act, that would be the ultimate achievement.
Of course they want to be seen as credible, but the paradigm for what constitutes credibility is shifting. Justice as an ideal is shifting, and people accept that justice is in the eye of the beholder. I'll shrug and continue my day if Cameron takes an early dirt nap, but I'd totally understand if a conservative newspaper played it off like it was a world stage tragedy. Both viewpoints contain an inherent truth relative to the holder of that truth. I don't get angry because a celebrities tit falling out of a dress makes the front page, because I'm not deluded into thinking the free press represents a moral or absolute truth.
I think the point you're making about nobody reading it once credibility evaporates is misguided, given that news circulation spikes through the ceiling following trivial or mundane celebrity-based content. It's sobering to know that on a story-by-story basis, a plane crash will likely spike traffic around the same amount as unretouched Beyonce photographs. People aren't looking for actual news anymore, they're looking for something that loads fast, reads fast, preferably in list format, and basically tells them nothing.
Would I prefer it your way? Yeah, I'd love there to be one credible news source, but there isn't. If it costs to produce it, then there's an agenda behind it. 100% of the time.
