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Serious reporting languishes as sensational online stories capture public’s attention
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XINHUA reported on December 6 that Beijing’s website and information regulator, in a rectification campaign, named and punished no less than five Internet portals for resorting to sensational and deliberately misleading headlines to increase impact.
Among these headlines were “Official: Online car-hailing, being high-end, should not be affordable to everyone,” “Chairman of Guan Sheng Yuan Group mauled to death by a monkey,” and “China set to become an Internet superpower, unrivaled by 2050.”
Over the weekend, I visited one of the portals named, to see if it had mended its ways, and came across these breathtaking headlines: “Widely noted beauty chief to become Party secretary,” “Freshman, showing whites of eyes, died suddenly in hotel, with girlfriend,” and “Woman official has blackened knees, and videocam grab tells embarrassing truth …”
If we call these items “news,” then we have good reason to be disdainful of the producers of such stuff. We would likely be better off without it.
But such content does tell us something about the state of journalism.
Not long ago, journalists still exercised a sort of autonomy in deciding what to cover, and their coverage had to be informed by independent information gathering and investigation.
The dominance of the Internet has led to a paradigm shift. Increasingly something sensational will first go viral on social media, triggering an uproar, or otherwise becoming grist for national gossip. Then journalists come in.
Many journalists have become so dependent on social media for cues and clues that they’ve ceased to have an agenda of their own, and are incapable of taking the long view.
The latest instance was a man’s pathetic portrait of his leukemia-stricken daughter. Donations flew in. But following an investigation came a dramatic turn of events, as the man was found to possess multiple properties and the lion’s share of the daughter’s medical costs had already been covered by insurance.
Truth seemed to be out — but at what cost? Just think of the energy wasted in believing, and then in unbelieving, this staged farce.
Not all news is created equal. Routine media reporting has to follow rigorous procedures of coverage and editing.
This changes when technology enables almost everyone — regardless of their credentials or intentions — to have their voice amplified. It is then when lies fly, gossip and anecdotes reign supreme. As competition for attention steadily lowers the tone of the news, streaming channels featuring seductively clad hostess have become increasingly lucrative.
We were once taught that truth is the lifeblood of news reporting. But when distortion and misinformation can be so much more profitable, unscrupulous website operators are not above twisting facts or giving misleading titles to inflate Internet traffic.
The constant requirement for attention is particularly fatal for those engaged in serious reports, since the time needed for a journalist to come up with a quality piece of investigative reporting has failed to evolve in tandem with technology.
Information overload
The 24/7 information overload has so taxed our cognitive powers and attention span, that most people no longer have the patience for in-depth analysis. Both content creators and consumers are in such a rush that they can no longer afford due diligence.
But who cares? As we move from one attraction to the next, there is no time for double checking anyway.
During two seminars I attended recently, occasionally I looked up from taking notes and found other reporters buried in their hand-held devices. Were they filing real time reports? Or did they no longer take themselves seriously?
One thing is true, journalism as a profession is losing its lustre — it used to be one of the most sought after majors at top universities in China. Unlike elsewhere, journalism used to be respected as a discipline and profession. Today I guess some journalists still experience some professional pride when they produce their press cards demanding free entry to tourists sights. Otherwise the morale is not so flattering.
Journalism school faculty are talking about offering incentives to keep their students from embracing more lucrative majors. During a recent seminar the dean of a top journalism school talked about the need of straightening out Marxist conceptions about journalism. He was certainly getting to the crux of the matter. If our schools can no longer turn out students fired with idealism — if they are no longer equipped by a sense of mission — they are giving up their reason to exist, as they would cease to benefit society with their outlooks and opinions, their framing of topics, or the setting of agendas.
But they could still be useful to some parties. Rather than challenging corporate power, they can become captured by it. They can create news — in exchange for payment, of course — that would align with corporate needs.
From journalists to PR rep, that’s the normal career progression for many ambitious reporters who know how to make the most of their limited opportunities and resources.
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