Viewers want better TV election coverage

VIEWERS WANT BETTER TV ELECTION COVERAGE
[SOURCE: Indianapolis Star, AUTHOR: Jeffrey McCall, DePauw University]
[Commentary] At this time last year, Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Michael Copps told a media reform conference that the broadcast media should do more to strengthen our democracy. He criticized the television news industry for giving the public "too much baloney passed off as news." Sadly, the evidence since that speech indicates that Copps' critique remains quite valid. From superficial coverage of elections to hyped-up coverage of celebrity scandals, the broadcast news industry continues to give the citizenry a news agenda that degrades the conversation of democracy. Recent studies clearly indicate the public's disappointment with coverage of the presidential campaign. A report released late last fall from the Harvard Center for Public Leadership said that about two-thirds of the public does not trust the media's campaign coverage. Sixty percent said the reporting is biased, and 88 percent said the campaign coverage focused on trivial issues. Democracy requires an informed public. Audiences that rely too heavily on television news may well be ill-prepared to fulfill their democratic duties. Let's hope the warnings of Commissioner Copps and others are heard in network newsrooms.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008801190444