On the Fundamental Flaws of Broadcast Media

Over at the Skeptic Magazine website, author, essayist, musician, and skeptic Steve Salerno has an excellent overview of the ways in which broadcast media is fundamentally flawed as a means of communicating a message to the public at large. The crux of Salerno's essay is not that our broadcast media is sloppy or unprofessional, nor that it has become the tool of a particular political agenda, nor even that the rise of new media has lessened broadcast's stranglehold on the means of communication. Instead, Salerno rightly focuses on an aspect of broadcast media that many folks simply do not consider: the delivery of news is an enterprise whose means of survival is to produce profit (by bumping ratings). Unfortunately, this very fact means that in order to survive, broadcast media must do exactly the opposite of what should be its prime directive, sacrificing the delivery of accurate, balanced, and broad news coverage in favor of a grossly unbalanced focus on the sensational. I'll let Salerno speak for himself.

It's interesting to see how this impacts even the seemingly harmless portions of the news, such as the weather. I've learned from a somewhat inside source that the meteorologists at one of our major local affiliates in Louisville are given certain words that they're highly encouraged to fit into their forecasts. Every week, analysts working for the parent company send in the list of "buzz words" that are likely to catch the attention of viewers and boost ratings. Refusal to use the words results in disciplinary action, never mind if the forecast actually calls for these words. This practice is likely mirrored at other stations, though I've only learned of it specifically at one in particular. Nevertheless, even without this manipulation of the language, it's clear that even the mildest of wet weather is cause enough for many of the local stations to commandeer primetime slots, breaking into the shows people actually want to watch in order to subject the viewing public to a stagnant radar image and hyperbolic fear-mongering. That's what draws the ratings, and, therefore, the money.