A THIRST FOR "REAL" NEWS
I'm in Washington, D.C., ...
...where I'll be speaking to a dinner meeting of the Canadian American Business Council. After-dinner speaking is not something I ever thought I'd be interested in, or much good at. I think I'm better suited to chasing down news and trying to improve my story telling. But as things have turned out, talking with Americans and Canadians face to face about world events is the next best thing to reaching out to them via satellite -- especially since viewers here are nowadays missing out on almost all of the international news signals we routinely beamed home only a few years ago.
Don't just take my word for it: the other night, listeners calling in to Chip Franklin's show on WMAL radio here in D.C. had nothing but complaints about the lack of genuine international news available on U.S. television. I had been telling Chip about my experiences with the owners and managers of NBC, who I successfully fought in court over their programming experiments at the network's news division. A number of the folks who called in remember, just as I do, how NBC News not so long ago was a bastion of reliability -- of editorial toughness and balance.
But now, under the ownership of the General Electric Company, NBC's programming agenda is tilted solely toward soft, entertainment-oriented material shaped entirely to score maximum ratings points. That's a mistake, and more than that, it's a disservice to the American public.
At a broadcasting company reaping windfall profits, there has to be room on the programming schedule for news that isn't just done by, and for, the numbers. There needs to be journalism that provides a public service. I'd like to remind you here, as I told Chip's listeners, that NBC News still has a lot of talented journalists who are striving to report the news as they -- and you -- know they should. The company doesn't lack good reporters, in my opinion. But there's a scarcity of gutsy managers, leaders who aren't afraid to get their profits the old fashioned way--by earning them with genuine news.As you'll read here in the days and weeks ahead, that kind of responsible balance between business imperatives and community service was exactly what the inventors and the first investors in America's television networks had in mind. And it was what the Federal Communications Commission and other watchdog agencies were created to protect. So what's gone wrong ? That explanation, I believe, is probably the most important thing I can offer to readers in the pages of RISK AND REDEMPTION. Along with what the critics say is a pretty good read.
I'm more than just flattered that they think so. After all, my colleagues and I sometimes quite literally have to put our lives on the line for what we believe in, so I wanted to get the story right. Please take time to pick up a copy and head off down a few hot news trails with us. Consider the evidence. And watch this space as my colleagues and I continue to explore the world around us.