The failure of mainstream journalists and news organisations to hold the powerful to account hinders a functioning democracy, writes Dr Victoria Fielding.
THROUGHOUT THE PAST 20 years of digital disruption, news media has lost its monopolistic claim over the production of news. Web technology and then social media enabled “news” content – a mix of information and entertainment – to be produced by anyone with an internet connection.
During this time of intense change and upheaval for the news industry, news organisations and journalists have defended society’s need for legitimately produced journalism to ensure the public can access trustworthy, verified information and that power is held to account.
The supposed legitimacy of news organisations’ content differentiates it from the deluge of unreliable clutter and information on the internet. Indeed, the internet should have made news organisations’ roles even more valued and important.
Rather than embrace and celebrate this important role, news organisations have increasingly retreated from holding power accountable, including accountability for telling lies and spreading disinformation. Instead, they gift their broadcast and online platforms over to powerful people, providing them with free access to mass news audiences, where they can say whatever they like, including manipulating people, spreading hate and telling lies with no negative consequences.
The media’s loss of an accountability function is obvious when you consider Donald Trump’s political success. Trump would never have been able to win the 2016 U.S. Election if the news media had held him adequately to account for his racism, his sexism, his corruption, his divisive, hateful rhetoric, and his intellectual, moral, personal and cognitive inadequacies.
If all day, every day, journalists had told the truth about Trump’s unfitness to be President – if they had been true watchdogs for American democracy – Trump would never have got anywhere near the White House, let alone the Republican nomination.
Instead, Trump was given lettuce-leaf-like scrutiny while American news media piled on Hillary Clinton’s personal email server “scandal”. Between unscrutinised live broadcasts of Trump’s rallies and tidying up transcripts of what Trump said to make him sound more credible than he was in reality, American journalists – including all outlets, not just Right-wing hacks – helped elect Trump.
The same is happening again in 2024. Even after Trump’s scandalous four years as President which finished with him trying to overthrow American democracy, once again American news media is treating him with kid gloves, lending him unearned legitimacy.
Rather than collectively, every day reporting loud and clear that Trump is a danger to American democracy and threatens social stability the world over (one or two stories or warnings by Left-wing political pundits won’t cut it), news media continue to provide him unearned legitimacy and a free platform that uses to again spread hate, racism, sexism, lies and disinformation, dividing America and making it a weaker country in the process.
You might ask, why do mainstream journalists and news organisations fail to hold powerful people like Trump accountable? The answer is that they are cowards. They are scared that if they criticise Trump for his various failings, they will look like they’re biased. They are so scared of being called biased, clinging to incorrect assumptions of what objectivity means, that they have backed themselves into a corner where they cannot say what is right in front of them.
Ironically, these same outlets and journalists are not afraid of being called “biased” when they go back many decades digging for scandals in Democratic vice president nominee Tim Walz’s life to try to discredit the Democrats' campaign. Or to tie themselves in knots trying to make presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ husband’s marital affair many years before he met Harris a problem.
That’s because they’re only scared of being called biased towards the Left, not against the Left. Indeed, when they create scandals for the Left, they’re doing so to prove – perhaps to themselves – that they are not biased.
In fact, the failure of journalists to report that Trump is a deeply problematic presidential candidate lacks objectivity, independence and neutrality. In trying not to be biased, journalists are being biased towards the Trump campaign. The news media industry has thus created an impotent mess of its own, spineless making.
Due to the failings of mainstream accountability, the best place to find watchdog journalism about the Trump campaign – the truth – is from Kamala Harris’ campaign social media feeds. For instance, during Trump’s Fox News address, the KamalaHQ team was live posting about Trump’s 45 minutes of confused ramblings and fact-checking Trump’s claims of leaving behind a surging economy.
The public should not have to rely on Trump’s political opponents to produce accountability media, which is only seen by those who support them and needs to be seen by those who don’t. It is the job of the mainstream media to hold power to account and if they are not going to do it, they abdicate their reason for existence.
Australian media is no better at holding misbehaving politicians accountable, including Trump. A great example of a politician having to step in and do the accountability for them is Independent MP Zali Stegall calling out Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s clear racism over his divisive, hate-baiting towards Palestinian refugees.
To make matters worse, Stegall had to make this point while being disagreed with not only by an interrupting Senator Bridget McKenzie but also by Sky News hack Peter Stefanovic, who does a better job masquerading as a Right-wing politician than a real journalist.
Society, particularly a healthy democracy, depends on quality journalism to protect the public from dangerous, manipulative disinformation and to ensure the powerful are held accountable for wrongdoing. The public needs useful information that can help to make smart decisions about who to vote for in their best interests.
If the news media will not or cannot produce this content, they deserve to lose their once-important status in society.
Dr Victoria Fielding is an Independent Australia columnist. You can follow Victoria on Twitter @DrVicFielding.
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