Our Broken Media System in the Era of Trump & How It Could Be Fixed w/ Victor Pickard
Jan 18, 2025
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Victor Pickard, a renowned media policy expert and author, dives into America's troubled media landscape, particularly during the Trump era. He discusses the corrosive impact of media oligarchy on democracy and highlights the rise of news deserts as a threat to civic engagement. Pickard advocates for public funding of media and explores how reforming local journalism could restore integrity. The conversation also critiques sensationalized coverage and emphasizes the urgent need for ethical journalism to empower informed citizens.
The podcast reveals that America's media system has largely failed to challenge autocratic rhetoric, prioritizing profits over democratic engagement.
It emphasizes the need for public funding and democratized media ownership to rebuild a diverse and effective journalistic landscape.
Deep dives
Media's Role in Democracy and the 2024 Election
The media's performance during the 2024 election was critically assessed, revealing significant shortcomings in how they addressed the democratic process and the threats posed by political figures like Donald Trump. The discussion highlighted that traditional media institutions failed to adequately challenge the autocratic tendencies within Trump's rhetoric and policies, which has become increasingly alarming. While isolated journalists attempted to uphold democratic standards, the overarching trend pointed to a media landscape that prioritized profits over the necessary critical engagement with political candidates. Such failures, especially when compared to the intense media scrutiny of earlier elections, underscore a troubling pattern where commercial interests consistently overshadow the foundational democratic role that the press is expected to fulfill.
Concentrated Ownership and Its Implications
The media landscape in the United States suffers from significant ownership concentration, where a small number of corporations control vast segments of news and information. This concentration not only limits the diversity of viewpoints but also introduces commercial imperatives that directly impact the quality of journalism produced. The discussion emphasized that the predominance of corporate ownership hampers the press's ability to serve the public interest, diverting attention from substantial issues to sensationalism and profit-driven content. As a result, local journalism has particularly suffered, with many newspapers shutting down, which exacerbates the problems within the media ecosystem by creating news deserts and reducing access to critical information.
Sane-Washing and the Normalization of Extremism
The concept of 'sane-washing' was introduced, referring to the media's tendency to normalize outrageous rhetoric and behaviors from political figures, particularly Donald Trump. Instead of alerting the public to the potential dangers posed by extremist views, media coverage often reframed such stances as acceptable political discourse. This practice detracts from serious engagement with crucial policy discussions, reducing complex issues to mere personality contests and sensational headlines. Consequently, the focus on 'horse race' journalism diminishes the electorate's understanding of substantial political stakes, undermining the informed citizenry necessary for a healthy democracy.
Public Financing and Structural Solutions for Media Reform
The need for structural changes in the media was emphasized, particularly the idea of public financing to support and rebuild a reliable press system in the U.S. Historically, media subsidies have been a part of American governance, facilitating the dissemination of information, and examples from other democracies have shown the benefits of strong public media systems. Despite concerns over potential government control, a properly implemented public media framework could ensure diverse and independent journalism that serves local communities. Ultimately, reform efforts must focus on democratizing media ownership and funding to restore a robust, functional press that effectively informs and engages citizens.
On this edition of Parallax Views, Victor Pickard, C. Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication and Co-Director of the Media, Inequality & Change Center at said school, joins the show to discuss America's broken media ecosystem in the age of Donald Trump. Much of this conversation will be based around an article Pickard wrote for Election Analysis immediately after the 2024 Presidential election entitled "Under media oligarchy: Profit and power trumped democracy once again". We will also discuss way that American media could be repaired today, how we can fix the media ecosystem, and the promise of Indymedia models for reviving journalism and reporting in the United States. Some other issues covered throughout the course of our conversation include: public funding of media, the BBC vs. American media, news deserts and the consequences of the decline in local newspapers/outlets, and much, much more.
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