FCC's Copps Wants Better and More Accountable Journalism

Federal Communications Commission member Michael Copps spoke at the Walter Cronkite Awards on April 26 saying, "the plight of journalism seems only to get worse. The situation has morphed from one about journalists not having the resources to do their jobs to one about them not having jobs at all. How much better America would be served if reporters were walking the beat in search of a story instead of walking the street in search of a job." He reiterated concerns about media ownership consolidation and its effect on journalism. "The overwhelming majority of news we citizens get still originates in newspaper and broadcast newsrooms-including the news we read online. It's just that there is so much less of it because so many resources have disappeared. How many stories go untold because there is no reporter on the beat? How many facts are never dug up? How many wrongdoers are not held accountable because investigative journalism is on the endangered species list in so many places? How do we hold the powerful accountable when 27 states don't have an accredited reporter on Capitol Hill?"