Opinion : 1.99 million reasons to discuss ways to improve U.S. media

Most of you spent a little more time watching TV and reading newspapers earlier this month as America marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Me, too.

I had spent much of August reading some books about the history of American journalism, and thinking about how the content of most newspapers and TV news programming is at times disappointing.

I saw one very sad indication on Sept. 11 of just how bad things are going for American newspapers.

I looked through one of Iowa’s largest newspapers that day, reading stories about 9/11 and its impact. Then I looked through the paper again to see how many businesses were willing to advertise on this day when more people than usual would be reading the paper.

Not many. The largest ad in the front section of Iowa’s largest newspaper that day was a full-page promotion for an event where you could purchase a $5 bill for $5. Seriously.

So, you may ask, is the state of media that bad?

No. It’s much worse.

But first, a word from the editor:

The bread machine vs. the wood chipper

When I write something, I feel like a chef making an exquisite cheesecake, adding words like ingredients for a delicious dessert.

But when I have to express the same words verbally, I feel like I am taking my words and placing them in a wood chipper.

Like most people, I’d rather write than talk, especially to lots of people. I admire the lawyers, politicians, teachers and preachers who have the gift of being able to stand in front of people and say what they meant to stay before they stood up.

I spoke to the Vinton Lions on Wednesday. Today I will share with you what I tried to share with them. Hopefully I will stutter less while writing this. (Actually my fingers stutter more, but I have mastered the use of the back space key.)

A Thank You

As I looked around the room before speaking, I realized the first thing I needed to say: Thanks.

Just about every one in the room has helped with Vinton Today. They gave us stories or story ideas, helped fund Vinton Today through advertising, and otherwise helped us start this venture.

Then I gave them our statistical update. I took us about a year and two weeks to get 1 million page views on Vinton Today. On Oct. 1, we will bypass the 2 million milestone, just six months and two weeks after reaching our first million. Today, we are actually at 1.99 million.

I thought about telling the Lions a couple more things, but didn’t feel comfortable so blatantly bragging.

I was at a VSHS softball game early this summer, when a man who was featured in a story on Vinton Today (and lots of other newspapers) told me: Dean, your story was by far the most accurate.

The next day, another man whose family was mentioned in a story on Vinton Today (as well as many other newspapers) said virtually the same thing. “Your story was the best of all that I have read so far,” he said.

I worked hard on those stories. I spent more time researching them than most other journalists had. It felt good to hear people say they noticed.

But I didn’t want to talk about Vinton Today because I am one of my least favorite subjects. I could talk for hours about granddaughters or what I am doing and trying to do on my grandfather’s farm.

But I am easily bored when talking about me, myself and I.

“I wish you would have bragged more,” said one Lion after the meeting.

Media Show and Tell

One topic on which I can talk for extended periods of time is the condition of the U.S. media. I have been a journalist for almost 20 years and I have some strong convictions about what is wrong with modern media.

So, the Lions were treated to my latest ranting about what I would do differently if I were some of the producers or editors of modern TV and newspapers.

I showed the Lions a recent front page from another large city paper from Iowa. The story I showed them was a very good one about the practice of doctors receiving payments from pharmaceutical companies for prescribing their medications. But my concern about the story was that it was not published by a newspaper, but by a non-profit organization that provides information to the media. That organization seems very worth while, but what worries me is this: If newspapers let other people do their work for them, then readers have fewer reasons to read them.

The same problem exists in other media, too. When National Public Radio creates reports on farm subsidy statistics, it does not do its own research. It relies on research by the Environmental Working Group. The EWG is doing great work to help Americans understand how much the taxpayers are giving to large corporations with large city offices in the name of “farm” programs.

There is another problem that I have had with newspapers since the day I began. It applies more to large city papers, but I have seen it in small town publications: A disconnect between what readers want and need, and what editors want to give them.

For years, the most popular column in the Des Moines Register was its “Work Bytes” pieces written by Larry Ballard and other staffers. The columns offered hilarious but practical insights into workplace issues. They were syndicated, and forwarded throughout the country. But when the DMR had to cut its budget, it killed Work Bytes but left intact its staid, boring columns

And they wonder why readership is down.

Television news can be silly, too.

Did you know, that in Dubuque, in the winter, people go to the stores to stock up if they think a snow storm is coming? Did you know that rains can cause flooding? I learned both of those facts by watching area TV news programming.

Missing messages

While most major news outlets are busy telling us the same stories that every other network or publication is also telling us, there are a lot of important stories that go utterly unmentioned.

One example:

You know, by now, that from the time that Saddam Hussein tried to “annex” Kuwait in 1990 until now, we have lost about 5,000 U.S. soldiers. The media has documented that number fairly well, as it should have.

But in the last 20 years, approximately 5,000 Americans have died in another dangerous, violent place: The Greater Washington, D.C. area. Five thousand is the approximate number of murders that have taken place within 50 miles of the White House since 1990. And with the exception, at times, of the newspapers in the DC area, virtually every media organization has ignored this story.

Another example: Why is Brazil energy independent while the USA is not? Paul Harvey asked that question countless times in his radio broadcasts; I have not heard anyone else in the media try to answer it.

Read the book:

The Lions actually knew the answer to these questions; many people don’t.

1. What is the shape of a baseball infield?

2. How do you pronounce the name of the capital of Kentucky?

Most people will say that the answer to 1) is “Diamond” and the response to 2) is “loo-ah-ville,” although a few will say “lew-is-ville.”

According to the baseball official rule book, the infield is a square. We call it a diamond because it’s turned at a 45-degree angle in relation to the rest of the field. But from home plate to first to second to third and back home again is box with four equal sides and four equal squares. That, in any math book, defines a square.

And the fine people of Kentucky pronounce the name of their state capital as “Frankfort.”

These questions are example of how many people –including way too many in my profession – accept the common understanding of something without bothering first to find out the actual reality.

A more serious case of not finding out the true facts before printing them took place earlier this month, when the state of Georgia executed a man who was convicted of killing a police officer who tried to stop him from beating up a homeless man who refused to give him a beer. There were stories in almost every newspaper about how seven witnesses had “recanted” their testimony in the trial, and how the guy was still being put to death. The convict, Troy Davis, was black, so race played an issue. Countless stories, pushed by Davis’ legal team and a variety of organizations opposed to the death penalty, issued press releases claiming the seven witness “recantations” are proof of the man’s innocence.

However, a close look at the court cases (which I spent hours reviewing) indicated that those stories left out much of the testimony and evidence against Davis, not to mention the fact that the jury that convicted him had 5 people of is own race.

But we, the media (with a few notable exceptions) did not bother doing our own homework on this issue. We were content to let Amnesty International and a convicted murderer’s lawyers do the research for us.

I showed the club an old Rubik's Cube and told them that the kid who taught me who to solve it in 1981 was a brilliant student who was way ahead of his class in science and math, and is now designing the technology for the latest medical imaging devices. But when I asked Danny Thedens how he solved the puzzle, instead of giving me a complex mathematical formula, Danny simply said: "I read the book." Then he showed me the book, put out by Rubik, that explained how to solve the problem.

At first I was disappointed, but then it occurred to me: Danny was smart enough to read the book; smart enough to go to the source of information. We need, but too often lack, that kind of intelligence and discipline in the media these days.

Poll problems for media

Then media people wonder why readership numbers -and the number of people who trust us -- keep going down, as if it is some big mystery.

I asked the Lions what comes to mind when they hear the phrase “quality in media.”

“There isn’t any,” said one. Everyone laughed.

“The Pew Research Center agrees,” I replied. A recent poll indicated that only 25 percent of Americans have a positive view of the media and two-thirds of us think stories are often inaccurate.

There are two exceptions: Local media have higher poll numbers than national organizations. And while most people say they do not trust the media in general, the give high marks to the newspapers and TV programs they watch for themselves.

Ways to improve

Is there hope for the media?

I think so, if we are willing to make some notable changes.

A congressman I know once said to his aide: “Your job is to make me look good.” I understand his point; but the congressman was wrong. The aide’s job is to show people how good the congressman is; it’s the congressman’s job to be as good as he wants people to think he is.

Here are my suggestions that would improve the way Americans perceive the media by making the media actually better.

1. We need something new; something that has not been done before. Walter Cronkite did this in the 1960s when he began the first national nightly evening news program. These days, news networks are happy trying to compete with someone else; it’s time for a new approach.
2. We need do something that nobody else is doing. I am not talking about “exclusive” interviews with the latest celebrity about his or her legal problems. I am talking about substantial, factual things that impact society.
3. We need another Mike Royko. The Chicago columnist won just about every award possible because he found stories everyone else overlooked and wrote them in a clear, entertaining way. Most modern columnists start with their opinion and then offer a statistic or two to support it. What we need are journalists that start with the facts, then let those facts dictate their opinions.
4. We need another Paul Harvey. He began each day at 3 a.m. scouring countless news sources to find the most important stories for each day.
5. Newspapers need to fire the consultants; listen to those who actually are doing the work. At the last Iowa Newspaper Convention I went to, the journalists attended nonsensical sessions with titles such as “Remaining consumer-focused in a digital world.” What they should have done instead was ask the best journalists among them to teach the rest of us how they do their jobs.
6. We need to have the courage to tell America what Mike Royko said when LBJ announced he would not seek re-election; he may not have been the best president a people could have had, but we certainly have not been the best people a president could have.

‘Illusory superiority’

The sociologists call it “illusory superiority.” It means thinking that we are better than others; better than we actually are.

A few examples:

In 2008, when the first black man was about to be elected president, 90 percent of Americans said they were ready for a black president. But those same people said that only 50 percent of Americans were ready for a black leader. In other words, they were saying: I am more culturally mature than much of the rest of America.

If America is going to solve its problem, the first step is for Americans – all of us – to take the advice of the baseball manager who once said, “We need to stop thinking we are as good as we think we are.”

We as Americans think we are very good. A recent poll indicates that 91 percent of us think we are above average drivers. Both math teachers and insurance adjusters can tell you those numbers are illogical.

At the University of Nebraska, 68 percent of the professors rated themselves among the top 25 percent in teaching ability. Again, the math professors there should be able to explain to the others why those numbers do not make sense.

We, as the media, need to have the courage to say to our country: We love you, but you are wrong. And we as Americans need to be willing to accept the message when someone points that out, instead of shooting the messenger.

But we don’t shoot the messengers in this society. We simply find another messenger who says something that makes us feel better about ourselves.

There are lots of ways to improve media, including those listed above. But there are two parts to this improvement. First, we in this business have to determine to give you the stories that really matter. Second, you have to listen to, watch, and read those stories, instead of clicking the remote or turning the page to something that makes you feel less uncomfortable.