From maestro to referee
A recent survey by Metron Analysis indicating that 56.7 percent of respondents believe the media’s coverage of the terrorism issue is deficient is an impressive, if disheartening, result for journalists. Only 37.7 percent believe it is positive in terms of helping the public to understand the problem. Obviously this result is due to some television stations’ sensationalist treatment of the issue, with incredible «revelations» that are refuted the very next day. It is a contest of impressions and misinformation between a few, but very active, journalists ensconced in front of the cameras, naturally at the invitation of the channels’ news editors, who are moral accomplices in this ongoing act of deceiving and misinforming the public. The criteria for these invitations is neither the knowledge, professional responsibility, nor the credibility of the particular guests, but rather their arrogant vanity, irresponsibility and lack of credibility – qualities that should have already discredited them. Yet those in charge of these programs and of the content of the news bulletins persist in trying to make an impression, misinforming the public and pushing their ratings up, however temporarily. The director has rejected the role of maestro demanded by his position. He does not choose his musicians on the basis of meritocracy; he does not consider himself responsible for the wrong notes they produce. What is worse, he appears to be seeking just that effect. When his guests insult each other in the most vulgar of terms, the ratings skyrocket, even if only momentarily. Thus the director is no longer a conductor but the referee of a rigged match. No wonder the spectators are outraged. The 56.7 percent of the public might help separate the chaff from the wheat in the news sector. Then there are the 37.7 percent who feel they have made the right choices in what they see, hear and above all, read.
