Stop the press!

A year ago this week, the NYT ran a front page article that revealed that the Department of Homeland Security’s background check had failed to catch one of the San Bernardino shooter’s open discussions of jihad on social media. Also a year ago this week: It turned out that story was not true.

Two of the three reporters responsible for the story had earlier that year been responsible for the DOJ’s criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton article, which also had a major veracity deficit.

[Clarification – I’m speaking about the press in general not just the NYT, although the reply to Trump did piss me off.]

Lemieux remains on top of explaining the raging trash fire that was the national media’s coverage of the 2016 election. But it’s not all bad news because there is something any person can do deprive the fire of fuel: Stop throwing money on it.

I know this is a shocking idea for many people. Taking a paper is a status marker to many people. In some households reading the paper is a family ritual. I myself have many fond memories of watching my grandmother sit down to read the Sunday Washington Post and NYT. The things she said while reading articles on politics and the economy certainly broadened my vocabulary.

Perhaps if I instead say this: 10 thousand subscribers can post comments to articles and write letters to the editor about the fourth estate and upholding the standards journalistic integrity and the vital role of an independent press in protecting democracy and freedom and mom’s apple pie until they’re blue in the breasts, but no paper is going to spend money to make the changes required to improve the quality of reporting if the 10 thousand subscribers continue to pay for reporting that barely upholds the standards one would expect from a high school paper.

As an aside, I do wonder if print and broadcast outlets use their comments sections and social media accounts as a way to allow dissatisfied customers to defuse their anger through a harmless action so they don’t resort to cancelling subscriptions or refusing to watch.

At any rate, they welcome your hate, provided they meet their quarterly revenue goals, which makes boycotting advertisers is another or an additional option.

This isn’t to say people should not bother to send that letter to the editor. Based on the current game plan (cut jobs to make up for shrinking ad revenue) many news corps. could use some help figuring out why the money went bye-bye, and what it will take to get it back.