The Chicago video debate
Posted by Bill Gaffney | March 28th, 2008More and more Americans are citing their lack of confidence in what once defined the very nature of public trust. Where men and women once proudly wore their unbiased reporting and adherence to standards on their sleeves, the newspaper industry now is but a shell of itself. According to the 2007 State of the News Media report, less than one in five believe what they read in print. But does the recent prank the Tribune pulled on the Sun-Times further erode this trust or help to restore it.
At its simplest level, it’s nothing more than a prank conducted against a rival, and a funny one at that. Had this deception been conducted on a more serious subject perhaps my reaction would be greater, however it was on the future naming rights to Wrigley Stadium. The Sun-Times was actively soliciting outside participation through an online video submission contest. Further, the Sun-Times was aggressively mocking Sam Zell and the Tribune for simply floating the idea of changing the stadium’s name.
Source: Wikipedia
The Tribune has every right to mock back, and frankly I would think little of them if they adhered to the stoic, stuffy persona of newspaper’s yesteryear, but once the public is involved in the joke, it ceases to be funny. The public trust, though the readers weren’t their own, was broken, and the fundamental principles to which every newspaper should commit were damaged.
As papers continue to lose circulation, advertisers, and their market share, they are losing something much more important in their role within the community they serve. They are proving to be slow and unresponsive at best and irrelevant at worst. However flawed the prank may have been, it helps to redefine newspapers roles today.
This nimble, irreverent response to a city-wide concern is what is missing from many newspapers today. Then to have won the contest it turns the mirror on the Sun-Times campaign to embarrass Zell underscoring the Tribunes own hometown feelings on the subject reaffirming their role within the community. Moreover, this cross-town sparring is sadly missing from too many good cities. It helps to ground the editors and balance the reporting.
This was the right idea with hopefully many other newspaper following suit, with the wrong execution.
Thanks. We also do important reporting. But this was a weekend project.
– Jas.