Just as Watergate transformed journalism internationally, it appears the recession will do likewise
THE FORTUNES of journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein rose considerably when they broke the biggest story in American politics.
Between 1972 and 1976, Woodward and Bernstein uncovered political dirty tricks that ultimately resulted in the indictments of 40 White House and administration officials.
The resignation of President Richard Nixon was the biggest scalp in the history of investigative journalism and led to that memorable Nixon phrase: “When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.”
Watergate made political corruption an acceptable mainstream media story. The Washington Post probed the public consciousness about the consequences of unethical behaviour and resulted in stronger public demands for institutional adjustment, as well as demands for new standards in public life.
Watergate profoundly changed the public mindset about political ethics, and not just in America. The mid-1970s witnessed the John Poulson conflict-of-interest scandal in Britain. In Ireland too, we had our own brief flutter with corruption exposés in Hibernia magazine, among others, on rezoning.
Editors and newspaper owners encouraged journalists to find their own Watergate. The discovery of a corruption scandal could solidify a newspaper’s place in history, boost the prestige of a crusading journalist and dramatically increase commercial success.
That was then.
Since Watergate, the media has been more vigorous, inquisitive and commercial. Diversity, competitiveness and the 24-hour media cycle mean that information is simplified. Sound bites are shorter and description dominates at the expense of explanation.
It is easier to sell the game of politics, who is winning, who is losing, rather than the content of public issues. The substance of political debate is not as attractive to sell as the sensational, the negative and the scandalous.
Larry J Sabato described this development in his seminal book, The Feeding Frenzy, where “a critical mass of journalists leap to cover the same embarrassing or scandalous subject and pursue it intensely, often excessively and sometimes uncontrollably”. The media, he believes, “prefers to employ titillation rather than scrutiny; as a result, its political coverage produces trivialisation rather than enlightenment”.
The type of journalism, and the audience it attracts, have experienced a remarkable transformation simultaneously. I was born after Watergate and my generation do not buy newspapers on a regular basis, if at all.
When the American satirical television programme, The Daily Show, visited the New York Times’s offices in June, it was a merciless exercise in biting satire on the state of the newspaper industry. When the NYT’s assistant managing editor was asked: “Why is aged news better than real news?” his cringing silence morphed into embarrassment as he blankly tried to respond.
The Irish media have proved to be vulnerable to winds of recession.
RTÉ acknowledged this summer that it is in “serious financial difficulty”. The downturn in advertising revenue has forced TV3 to introduce redundancies. Setanta Sports changed ownership in July.
Shares in Independent News Media, which owns the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Evening Herald and Belfast Telegraph, have dropped significantly over the last year. Negotiations with bondholders over an overdue €200 million note are continuing.
The Johnston Press group has been trying to sell its 13 regional newspapers in an attempt to reduce its £477 million debt burden. Foinse, the Irish language newspaper, closed in June. The two freesheets, Metro Ireland and Herald AM, are merging their titles into Metro Herald.
The Irish Times is not immune either. The decline in advertising has left the newspaper in a financially challenging position in its 150th year.
Where to now?
Structural changes within media organisations across the world have transformed the type of news that is submitted. Greater emphasis on revenue margins and bottom lines requires that media organisations emphasise the aspect of its operation that directly produces those results.
The orientation to advertiser preferences has redefined the market and the audience, with a consequent focus on stories that are inexpensive and easy to cover and that focus on the individual. This conflict between profit and journalism creates tensions between profit and journalistic integrity. Fewer journalists are expected to produce more with lower resources.
As a sign of things to come, Michael Massing’s article in this month’s New York Review of Books, on the rise of online journalism, was accompanied by a podcast on its website. The traditional media are increasingly complementing their services with online additions (Have you seen The Irish Times website recently?)
Massing, a contributing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review, contends that Watergate signalled the golden era of the newspaper but that this is now over and will never return. So, just as Watergate transformed journalism internationally, it appears that the recession will do likewise.
The late, great Frank McCourt once said he had no accomplishments except surviving. Let’s see, post-recession, who will be lucky enough to claim that accomplishment.