In high school, civics students learn that the press is a “fourth estate” — while not an official component of the government system, this term suggests the press is effectively a fourth branch of government, carrying influence and checking power in our political system. But that power is on the line.
Winter break was a time to eat and rewatch Spotlight, a film that details the trials and ultimate success of the investigative reporting team at the Boston Globe as they challenged the Catholic Church’s deeply entrenched system of sexual abuse.
Watching the film for the first time since the results of the United States presidential election, members of our board could not help but feel inauspicious chills. In Spotlight, a newspaper takes on systems bigger than its publication on behalf of its readers and people everywhere to make social change, an act that now seems increasingly implausible.
Newspapers are on the decline —that’s old news. According to the Pew Research Center, over the last 20 years, the newspaper workforce has shrunk by 39 percent. The industry is dramatically consolidating while revenues are dropping. In 2015, newspaper circulation on weekdays fell seven percent and Sunday circulation fell four percent — the greatest decline since the Great Recession’s rough aftermath in 2010. Digital subscriptions hardly compensated, increasing only two percent in 2015.
This downward trend leads to the creation of news deserts, with no local issues coverage. Many small towns across North Carolina have seen their local papers shut down for good — giving the municipal government little to no accountability.
As the line between real journalism and “fake news” blurs, the trustworthiness and very essence of journalism is undermined. In a December Pew Research Center poll of over 1,000 U.S. adults, 64 percent said that fake news has caused “a great deal of confusion about the basic facts of current events.” Fake news, such as the “pizzagate” story, threatens newspapers’ credibility and thereby weakens their position as a checking body for politicians.
In his press conference on Wednesday, Trump exemplified how fake news incidents can fuel sweeping invalidation of the press as a whole. If our new president continues to paint himself as a victim of the press, it will only make it easier for his supporters to sympathize with him when valid claims are brought against him by journalists.
As newspapers become increasingly strapped for cash, they’re forced to do what they can get clicks, likes and advertising revenue. The result is a tendency to publish information quickly. While readers deserve to know what’s out there, news dumping is also dangerous — the big picture gets lost. By failing to place news in a larger context, papers risk misconstruing information and losing credibility.
The Daily Tar Heel, along with other regional news organizations, is in the process of suing UNC for sexual assault records. This board would like to commend and encourage newspapers that use their resources to do investigative journalism as well as the lawyers who support journalists in fighting legal battles. Only with an empowered press can our society challenge institutions engaging in unethical behavior.
