Ten news items in a row today, none about Ukraine!
Reporting on the baby formula shortage has overtaken it, but it's also deficient journalism.
Ukrainian officials have long expressed fears that “the West” will eventually lose interest in their battle against Russia, while neutral observers have concluded that Russian president Vladimir Putin is counting on just that to help push him to victory over the beleaguered country.
What I saw this morning, May 23, on ABC Television’s “Good Morning America” seemed to confirm these suspicions. The show opened with 10 teasers or bulletins about what was in the news on this day, from baby formula shortages to an increase in still-rare monkey pox infections, from a love triangle murder to some other forgettable item, but not one mention of the war in Ukraine. That was to come later, after the break, as was President Joe Biden’s dramatic claim that the US would defend Taiwan if China were to attack the island nation that China claims as its own territory. Somehow, the editors at ABC News and Good Morning America thought there were 10 items more newsworthy than the worst conflict in Europe since World War II, as well as the prospect that we might actually go to war with the well-armed and determined People’s Republic of China over Taiwan (presumably without a declaration of war that, by Constitutional law, only Congress can authorize).
I worked in daily journalism for nearly 30 years and taught journalism as adjunct faculty at several colleges and universities over that period. It’s well known within the industry that Americans much prefer local and national news to international news. So, that’s what is going on at ABC News, I presume. They’re going back to basics – not necessarily what is real news – but what most Americans think is newsworthy. That way they garner a bigger audience and their advertisers pay more to promote their products on air. This may sound elitist of me and other critics to be telling Americans what news they should be thinking about, but war is news and Americans should be very, very concerned about what is happening abroad, a lot more than they seem to be. And people like me do expect news directors and editors to show some leadership in deciding what to present. The fact is we pay professionals to study and sample news from all over the world because that is their job and their mission, just like we pay doctors to be professionals at their jobs, or architects or mechanics and so on. I’m prepared to ask if our news professionals are doing a good job, or just playing to their audience?
I have another criticism of ABC News and Good Morning America today. One of their top items and longest reports was on the baby formula shortage in America, and they linked a story about a shipment from Switzerland over the weekend to the shortage, interspersing footage of loading a single military transport plane with pallets of formula with pictures of empty store shelves. It was a completely misleading juxtaposition. None of the shipment from Switzerland is going to retail outlets, and overall there were only a few thousand bottles that will go to select hospitals and nursing centers, then after a week or so it’s going to be all gone. Furthermore – and this is a criticism of all media that I’ve seen in the last week or so about the baby formula story – no one is asking why so many American babies need to be fed formula. Certainly, there have been stories about babies with rare disorders and/or allergies but nothing to suggest why so many babies need to be on formula. It’s like the obesity epidemic – almost no one in mainstream media will report on this. As my wife noted, the old campaign of “Breast is best” is simply moribund. Sure, there have been countless stories about supply chain issues and the closure of an Abbott baby formula factory, and some Progressive news outlets have noted the problem with “consolidation” in the industry, meaning fewer producers. But the demand side in America for baby formula seems to be unique among advanced, industrialized countries. Why? Mainstream media seem intent to avoid that question.
I don’t ordinarily watch Good Morning America or network news programs much because the reporting is so superficial and often sensational. I know where to go to learn more about the news, but I worry that most Americans still get their news from the broadcast networks (or the notably partisan cable news networks) or from social media networks, if they bother to access the news at all. It’s not good.
Yes. Plus the White House press corps is also disappointing. Many questions that reflect a lack of understanding of government, national security policy and international affairs. More interest on attempts at gotcha questions, potential scandals, personality conflicts, and “feelings.” Psaki had to spend most of the daily press briefings explaining the basics of American Government 101.