Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

By Christopher Harper

It’s been 50 years since I started my first full-time job as a reporter at the Associated Press in Chicago.

As I’ve written earlier, it’s sad how far the AP has tilted toward the left, erasing its history as a dependable and accurate institution that provides news and information worldwide. See https://wordpress.com/post/datechguyblog.blog/38878

But the underlying problems in journalism go far deeper than the mess at the AP. More than 1,600 journalists responded to the annual survey from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, and the results are damning.

Only 3.4% of those U.S. journalists polled claim to be Republicans, with another 36.4% saying they’re Democrats. That’s more than 10 times more Democrats than Republicans. Or at least the ones who will admit they are on the left. 

More than half (51.7%) call themselves “independents” and another 8.5% “other.” Journalists have been getting these survey questions for over 50 years and have grown savvier. Many carefully list themselves in those “other” categories to avoid being called biased.

At the time I started in journalism, 25% of U.S. journalists said they were Republican. In 50 years, journalism has essentially purged any political opposition in its ranks. Amazingly, only 12.7% think “perceived bias and opinion journalism” is a problem.

I’m pleased to see all the financial and political problems the media are having because it’s possible media operations will realize they must change. I may be too optimistic. 

As the prospects for news publishers waned in the past decade, billionaires swooped in to buy some of the country’s most fabled brands. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, bought The Washington Post in 2013 for about $250 million. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a biotechnology and start-up billionaire, purchased The Los Angeles Times in 2018 for $500 million. Marc Benioff, the founder of the software giant Salesforce, and his wife bought Time magazine for $190 million in 2018.

All three publications are losing money at record rates, amassing millions of dollars in debt and facing massive layoffs. 

The media analysts blame the losses on the changing environment for news organizations. But the real reason for the declining readership and revenues is that there’s little worth seeing in these left-leaning outlets. 

I wince when people ask me what work I did because journalists have few friends except the elite class. Almost everyone else hates us!

Rather than ignore the problems, it may be time for those who want to save journalism to dig deeper into the disconnect between news organizations and those they’re supposed to serve.