NEWS MATTERS
Press Problems
Richard J . Levine
Richard J . Levine is president of the board of directors of the Dow Jones News Fund , Inc . Since joining Dow Jones & Co . in 1966 , he has served as vice president for news and staff development , executive editor of Dow Jones Newswires , vice president of information services , editorial director of electronic publishing and Washington correspondent and columnist for The Wall Street Journal . He holds a B . S . from Cornell University and an M . S . from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism . Email : richard . levine @ dowjones . com .
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By Richard J . Levine
wo days after the presidential election , the Dow Jones News Fund ’ s board of directors held its annual meeting , a setting in which I offered a perspective on the state of the news business and its performance in covering the battle for the White House .
In essence , I said in my report that the News Fund and the news business are currently operating in the most challenging and unsettling environment since the Fund was launched in 1958 . Legacy newspapers remain in a desperate search for new business models to support quality journalism in the digital age as print advertising revenue continues to disappear and erode their financial strength . At the same time , many new digital-only organizations face equally daunting problems .
Moreover , the failure of much of the media — new and old , print and digital — in covering the 2016 election is as unsettling as the underlying business problems . National , regional and local media , I suggested , need to understand the citizenry and the real issues that affect lives and politics . This will require more and better “ old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting ” based on fewer assumptions . There is also a need to reexamine modern political polling and , at the very least , put greater emphasis on analysis and explanation of the limitations of polls in predicting election outcomes .
In the weeks since Donald Trump ’ s upset victory over Hillary Clinton , these and other media issues have spurred an intensive , critical debate about the current performance and future direction of American journalism . For those who haven ’ t followed this conversation closely , here are some of the highlights .
CAMPAIGN COVERAGE
There is a widespread view that , as Washington Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan bluntly put it , “ the media missed the story .” On Nov . 9 , she wrote : “ In the end a
huge number of
MARGARET SULLIVAN
American voters wanted something different . And although these voters shouted and screamed it , most journalists just weren ’ t listening . They didn ’ t get it . They didn ’ t get that the huge , enthusiastic crowds at Donald Trump ’ s rallies would really translate into that many votes .” And Kyle Pope , editor in chief and publisher of the Columbia Journalism Review , said : “ Its inability to understand Donald Trump ’ s rise over the last year , ending in his victory Tuesday night , clearly stands among journalism ’ s great failures , certainly in a generation and probably in modern times .”
Many observers believe this reflects that too many national reporters and editors are college graduates who live on the coasts , are liberal in their politics and don ’ t understand working-class voters in the Rust Belt or “ flyover country ” because of a lack of shared experiences .