America Deserves Better News and Media

In 1949, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States implemented a policy regarding broadcast media known as the Fairness Doctrine. This policy required companies and individuals with broadcast licenses for radio or television to present controversial issues of public importance, and to do so in a manner which fairly showed differing viewpoints and opinions. All news stations and radio shows across the country were required to discuss current affairs deemed important to the American public, and they needed to present their coverage in a non-partisan, level-headed way. This policy tended to keep news reporting around the nation rather 'boring', notably steering coverage away from opinion or talk shows and towards news segments, public affairs shows or editorials. Yet, this was perhaps the greatest era of journalism in American history.

News outlets under the Fairness Doctrine eventually gave us an industry which was likely the closest we've ever come to widespread journalistic integrity, and it resulted in a stronger democracy. The public was better informed and had a more balanced view of a wide range of topics than it would in eras before or after the policy was in effect. This isn't to say America was anywhere close to perfect in the 50s, 60s and 70s, yet at least in regards to mass media and public discourse, the country was largely on the same page. As the vast majority of us know, however, this age of relative fairness and honesty in our nation's media was not to last. The reign of polarizing, anger-and-fear-driven news coverage was rapidly approaching.

With the ascent of Ronald Reagan to the American presidency in the early 80s, long-simmering goals of the new-ruling Neoliberal order were anxiously hammered out and made real to a degree rarely seen in American history. One of these previously-lofty goals was to do away with many government regulations and oversight rules. In the view of these market-first libertarian-capitalists, the government almost never provided the solution to societal problems, it was the problem. They believed the government needed to get out of the way and let the free market determine its own path. This viewpoint proved so popular by the 1980s that a wholesale regime change from the New Deal governing philosophy of the last handful of decades was swept away in favor of mass-deregulation and weakening of the federal government's ability to keep large businesses and industries in check.

So in 1987, the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine, and less than a decade later in 1996, Fox News was founded and began to air on cable television. The 'free market' approach led to profit being prioritized over anything resembling the public good. While it's likely beating the proverbial dead-horse to say American media has changed for the worse since the Fairness Doctrine was repealed, we're still going to cover some of the broad strokes from the last few decades anyway. In 1983, about 50 companies controlled the vast majority of news media networks in the U.S. By 2004, that number had dwindled down to 5 major media companies, more-or-less where it remains today. Over the last two decades or so, social media and the internet as a whole has risen in prominence to compliment the mass media establishment in giving Americans one of the most partisan, divisive, misinformed, conspiracy-theory riddled age in our nation's history.

As of 2022, a large cohort of Americans, primarily among registered Republicans, truly believe the presidential election of 2020 was stolen from Donald Trump via mass voter fraud. A smaller yet influential group among this same cohort believes a variety of Q-Anon related conspiracies, ranging from Democratic politicians drinking the blood of young children to the existence of massive underground military bunkers filled with trafficked children, physical demons and even lizard people. I wish I was kidding, yet there are people in my own family who believe these sorts of things, so I have a good idea about how deep this can go. To say such misinformation being accepted by such a large percentage of the population is dangerous would be a profound understatement.

Closer to home for most of us, the domination of the Supreme Court by conservative judges is allowing for a divergence between policies and laws in Democrat versus Republican-leaning states which has not been seen since the Jim Crow era in the South. Voting rights, abortion access, gun restrictions, marijuana legalization, LGBT-related discourse in public education, criminal justice reforms and more are creating an ever-greater divide between America's right and left-wings. This is actively resulting in two different Americas emerging, something which has led to increased calls for and warning of violent civil strife. This reality we find ourselves in is no accident, and it won't get any better unless we do something to reverse these trends.

As of the 2020s, public trust in media is at a low not seen in decades, and over half of Americans agree that mass and social media primarily push partisan interpretations of current events rather than a balanced version of the truth. With online algorithms pushing content to consumers based solely on their preferences and 24-hour news networks working as propaganda arms for the major political parties, Americans are finding themselves wrapped up in isolating echo chambers like never before, increasingly unable to relate to those with differing opinions. Public anger, dissatisfaction with our institutions and rising willingness to use violence to 'save' perverse versions of an America that doesn't and never has existed is on the ascent. If our country is going to come out of this stronger, a new era in mass and social media must be ushered in.

What can we do in the face of such overwhelming negativity and division? Well, for one thing, we need a new and improved Fairness Doctrine, one which encompasses cable news and social media while providing new regulations for how these different entities operate. All news networks should be required to present differing sides to public issues and be able to provide valid empirical sources for the information they provide. Talk and opinion shows should have airing-percentage limits, where only a certain amount of on-air time can consist of opinions and talking-heads. Primetime showings should be held exclusively for public-good reporting, much like the anchor-led news shows of the past. Hefty and escalating fines should be imposed on people and networks pushing objectively, legally-decided lies, such as an election being stolen without providing legitimate evidence. If a network or individual continues to ignore regulations and citations, they need to be suspended or have their broadcast license pulled altogether until an understanding is reached.

On the social media side, we need to revise Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which effectively allows online platforms immunity from defamation claims for statements or links posted by a user. We need to regulate social media companies much like traditional media companies, while still allowing users maximum freedom of speech. If a person posts an inflammatory post to Twitter, for example, this should primarily remain within the purview of the site's community guidelines and internal teams. Social and mass media companies themselves, however, should be a different beast entirely. Links to articles or videos which are posted to social media should be judged by the same regulations we would use to evaluate reporting standards on a cable news network or in print media. Fines for both the offending social and traditional media outlets should be imposed for repeated infractions, with the very ability to host or post political/news content being potentially rejected for egregious and repeated violations. Finally, social media users should have their identities confirmed, even if they choose to post anonymously later, to help prevent mass trolling and foreign misinformation.

Even individual blogs and smaller non-licensed sites should be given ratings/grades by social media companies when content is submitted to their site. Users should be given information about the sort of content they're accessing, and presented with information or research which puts the article or video in context. We need increased, non-politicized government investment into public radio, television and print media, including dedicated funds for local media networks. Implementing civics education and news literacy classes in high schools around the nation would help people sort out good reporting from the not-so-balanced. Net-neutrality needs to be codified by law. Unwinding the years of corporate media mergers would promote competition and honesty in the industry. Open primaries and ranked-choice voting would help ensure politicians are more accountable and representative of the people when appointing heads of the FCC. Meanwhile, greater democratization of media companies with required input from community members would enhance their accountability to the public while still retaining journalistic independence.

These are but a handful of changes which can be made to our current system, and any or all would have a sustained, long-term positive impact on how media functions in America. Media partisanship and social media dysfunction is a real, long-festering, complex problem which in a best case scenario would take years to effectively regulate and realign, yet it can be done. America didn't find itself so divided accidentally, and it will take an even greater force-of-will to bring us back together in any meaningful way. Reforms need to be implemented; changes must be made. Our very existence as a coherent nation may eventually be at stake if we don't fight for change now. America has weathered storms and gotten its house in order more than once before, and we can do it again. We just need the backbone to make it happen.

References:

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_reform

2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine

3) https://www.wa-democrats.org/issues/media-reform/

4) https://www.wgbh.org/news/commentary/2020/04/02/a-new-book-calls-for-fundamental-media-reform-and-the-pandemic-may-give-those-ideas-a-boost

5) https://www.corporations.org/media/

6) https://www.voanews.com/a/can-reforming-social-media-save-american-democracy-/6602408.html

7) https://www.politico.com/interactives/2019/how-to-fix-politics-in-america/misinformation/

8) https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2021/02/20/fewer-americans-than-ever-before-trust-the-mainstream-media/?sh=7ccb0a75282a

9) https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/04/unique-damaging-role-fox-news-plays-american-media/