09 August 2008
The Media and Politicians Are Just Doing a Job
It’s ironic that the news media hold political candidates and elected officials to a standard of behavior that is higher than the one to which they hold themselves. After all, they are both just doing their jobs, and protecting their financial futures.
Professionalism has destroyed the purity of purpose in these and other callings. Political leaders were once amateurs who graduated from economically productive roles in society to lending their judgment and experience for service to the common welfare. They have been captured by the need to make a living and build a celebrity enterprise. Their public acts are determined by what helps them fill that need, rather than what fulfills the common good.
Likewise, the “main stream media” are compelled to report the news that will bring viewers, listeners and readers to their content and earn advertising revenues based on access to all those eyes and ears. A destructive mutual dependency relates the MSM to government officials. Their symbiosis was recognized years ago, of course, by Marshall McLuhan. Nowhere outside politics is it more true that the medium is the message.
It’s not the substance of a politician’s policies that matters most to his success. It’s how he presents them, to his constituents as well as to his fellow officials. That, after all, is the skill for which he wins elections. It is also the skill that determines the success of any MSM organization. Criticizing a politician for acting in the interest of continuing in office is tantamount to challenging the news media for attending to the entertainment preferences of its advertisers’ target customers. Politicians are under as much pressure to make their constituents feel good as advertisers are with regard to their customers.
It’s ironic that the news media hold political candidates and elected officials to a standard of behavior that is higher than the one to which they hold themselves. After all, they are both just doing their jobs, and protecting their financial futures.
Professionalism has destroyed the purity of purpose in these and other callings. Political leaders were once amateurs who graduated from economically productive roles in society to lending their judgment and experience for service to the common welfare. They have been captured by the need to make a living and build a celebrity enterprise. Their public acts are determined by what helps them fill that need, rather than what fulfills the common good.
Likewise, the “main stream media” are compelled to report the news that will bring viewers, listeners and readers to their content and earn advertising revenues based on access to all those eyes and ears. A destructive mutual dependency relates the MSM to government officials. Their symbiosis was recognized years ago, of course, by Marshall McLuhan. Nowhere outside politics is it more true that the medium is the message.
It’s not the substance of a politician’s policies that matters most to his success. It’s how he presents them, to his constituents as well as to his fellow officials. That, after all, is the skill for which he wins elections. It is also the skill that determines the success of any MSM organization. Criticizing a politician for acting in the interest of continuing in office is tantamount to challenging the news media for attending to the entertainment preferences of its advertisers’ target customers. Politicians are under as much pressure to make their constituents feel good as advertisers are with regard to their customers.
Comments:
Post a Comment
