Calling news coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the best reporting he has ever seen, Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. delivered a message of both hope and caution about the future of journalism Monday to a crowd of more than 100 people at Fisk Hall at Medill’s Crain Lecture Series.
Downie, who has led the paper since 1992, and Associate Editor Robert Kaiser discussed their new book, “The News About the News: American Journalism in Peril.”
Commenting on the increase in sensationalized news, Kaiser said determining legitimate news is a subjective process but should “reflect reporters finding out things that otherwise wouldn’t have been found out.”
The uninterrupted television broadcasts, extra newspaper editions and special sections in the weeks after Sept. 11 reflected a new standard of serious, news-oriented journalism, Downie said.
Downie said that newspapers discovered the identity of the hijackers, revealed security shortcomings that put the country at risk and reported on previous U.S. government operations to curb terrorist efforts at home and abroad.
And the media is holding the government accountable for its actions in the war against terrorism in the United States and abroad, he said.
“This is the news media reporting at its best, covering real news that affects everyone,” Downie said.
The lecture also addressed the business side of the media, discussing the impact of financial pressures on news outlets.
Describing the media’s growing emphasis on lifestyle, entertainment and sports coverage, Downie said the industry has resorted to trivial but profitable coverage instead of more legitimate news stories.
“Local TV stations provide relatively little real news,” he said.
Modern news is full of “happenings,” such as car crashes, that often pass for real news, Kaiser said.
“An entire broadcast can be filled with this set-piece, spoon-fed news,” Kaiser said.
Downie and Kaiser cited profits as the main motivation for the shift in coverage away from hard news.
The average newspaper is expected to make a 20 to 30 percent profit, and news broadcasts strive for a 40 to 50 percent profit, Downie said.
As corporate news organizations become increasingly concerned with the bottom line, they cut staff and replace news stories with feature-type coverage, Kaiser said.
“Most news organizations don’t really have the goal of keeping the consumer informed,” he added.
But Kaiser also pointed out that some of the country’s best newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, maintain good business practices while providing top-notch reporting.
“The providers of important, relevant information are going to thrive,” he said. “As long as there’s a demand for good journalism, there will be good journalism.”
Downie added that the best news organizations become more profitable businesses because they “try not to be slaves to economic cycles.”
“(They) realize profits are going to go down in the bad times and up in the good times,” he said. “It all evens out in the end.”
Downie told The Daily he hopes future journalists feel “they can make a difference” by working for papers that don’t only focus on the bottom line.
But Medill freshman Jennifer Harsany said she thought Kaiser and Downie’s outlook was too optimistic.
“They seem to forget that since people are looking more to the entertainment aspect of the news, the demand for good journalism might not be there,” Harsany said.
Medill Dean Loren Ghiglione, however, told The Daily he was pleased with the editors’ views for the future of journalism.
“I appreciate the emphasis on quality journalism and that it can be both good business and good for society,” Ghiglione said. “We have journalists who aspire to be at the top and it’s nice to have someone come here and express those values.”
