by Joe Torres
One of the highlights of the fourth annual UNITY: Journalists of Color convention this summer in Chicago armyshould have been the appearance of Sen. Barack Obama at perhaps the largest gathering of journalists in U.S. history.
The chance to see—and question—the Democratic nominee (his opponent didn’t make it to the Windy City) was e highlight of the event.
Watching someone who could be the nation’s first black president had to be inspiring for a room filled with journalists who spent their careers overcoming tough barriers—a reminder it’s possible to tear down the most improbable of walls.
But even Obama’s appearance couldn’t remove the shadow hanging over this gathering. I spoke with dozens of veteran and young journalists in Chicago and was surprised by the level of despair about the journalism profession, and their own job status. They saw little hope of overcoming the obstacles placed before them.
This, despite the fact that most media companies, including newspapers, still make plenty of money. But Wall Street has placed unreasonable demands on companies. To increase their profit margins, news organizations have targeted the newsroom, cutting budgets, closing bureaus, and laying off thousands of journalists in just the pest few years.
Journalists of color have been hit particularly ha rd. The American Society of Newspaper Editors reported in April that, for only the second time in 20 years, journalists leaving the daily newspaper profession lest year outnumbered those landing their first jobs.
The journalists I spoke with did not know how to fight back against this current onslaught; neither did they understand how the battles in Washington over media policy have impacted their profession.
Many journalists are unaware that their bosses have gone to Washington claiming, despite all evidence to the contrary, claiming greater media consolidation will save newsroom jobs and improve their operations.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin cited this argument when the commission voted to lift the longstanding newspaper broadcast cross-ownership rule last December. It had kept one company from owning a paper and TV station in the same market.
‘CLEAR-CUT’’ NEWSROOMS
Runaway media consolidation is the story behind the attack on quality journalism and the clear-cutting of our newsrooms. But you rarely read and then, only inside the business pages about media policymaking in the newspaper or hear about it on TV. You might read about jousting among competing media moguls. Maybe there’s a small story about layoffs.Very rarely does anyone connect the two.
In recent years, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists despite receiving financial support from corporate media companies have made the connection and spoken out against consolidation (as has the Newspaper Guild). They must continue to keep up this fight and expand their efforts. But other journalist groups, like the Society of Professional Journalists, have not taken a stand.
Journalists must add their voices to the media ownership debate, just as they have spoken out strongly in favor of free speech issues and a shield law. Both issues impact the practice of journalism. If journalists do not speak out, their corporate bosses will be more than happy to fill that void.
PUBLIC EXCLUDED
It’s critical that journalists inform the public about the fight going on in Washington over media ownership rules. The public is too often excluded from participating in this debate even though they are the major stakeholder. Where would journalists of color be if it weren’t for the people of color who took to the streets to fight for racial equality during the civil rights movement?
If the public knew more about why the media are struggling, why they’re not represented equally, why the serious news they need is disappearing, perhaps it would demand that Congress and the FCC pass policies that support journalism institutions and independent news voices instead of weakening them.
The current crisis in the media industry is not a new one. Throughout our nation’s history, the emergence of new technology has always disrupted the traditional media system and the marketplace that supports journalism. It happened with the telegraph, radio, TV, cable and now with the Internet.
CORPORATE BIAS
During previous battles, the government adopted policies that favored corporate interests over the public interest.
It doesn’t have to be that way this time. I f we join in the debate, we can build a media system that supports good journalism.
Good journalism holding our corporate and government leaders accountable is what we need to nurture our democracy.
Journalists and journalism groups have to start fighting back if they want to feel hopeful about the future of their profession. This is not the time for them to hang their heads or flee the profession. It’s time to fight back.
(Free Press government relations manager Joe Torres works closely with its policy and research staff to create a legislative agenda and build national coalitions that broaden the base of the media reform movement. A journalist for many years, he had served as deputy director of media policy at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and as editor of Hispanic Link Weekly Report).
