Gloomy days ahead for American journalism

I RECENTLY returned from the reunion celebrations of my (1980) class at Columbia University’s School of Journalism in New York City with a sense that American journalism is facing a major crisis.

Dr Jelani Cobb, the dean of the Columbia Journalism School, expressed fears about the threats that America’s free press may be facing under President Donald Trump. Dr Cobb pointed to access issues, such as President Trump barring the Associated Press from White House pool events for refusing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as “Gulf of America”, as well as the investigations by the Federal Communications Commission into media outlets such as NBC, ABC, CBS.

Taken individually, all of these actions might seem like one-off cases, but when put together they paint a really alarming picture of deteriorating media freedom in the US.

But the challenges facing American journalism go beyond potential threats to freedom of the press and are existential on many levels.

The reality is that fewer people read newspapers these days. People tend to receive most of their news from the Internet, and in particular from the unreliable social media.

Many of the large local markets that used to have two or three newspapers now have none, and even the big news organisations, such as the Washington Post, face economic problems and end up being financially dependent on the support of billionaires, such as Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

Indeed, Bezos – mindful of his interest in maintaining a good relationship with the Trump administration – has berated the Washington Post, which he owns, for its criticism of President Trump’s policies and demanded to have full control of its editorial page.

Moreover, some of those attending the meetings at Columbia University over the weekend recalled that there was a time when a graduate of the journalism school would not only have no problems getting a job; he or she would be bombarded by many offers from media organisations.

But young men and women these days should probably think twice before choosing a career in journalism where the job opportunities have become limited, with very few graduates landing jobs in the large media outlets, and instead ending up mostly in low-paying part-time positions.

The template for a journalism career used to be the following: After graduation you looked for a job in a newspaper in a small town and after gaining experience you moved to a larger market, hoping that one day you would be hired by the New York Times.

These days, however, there are no small-town newspapers where a young journalist could launch a career.

And on some level, there is a sense that working in journalism lacks the influence it once had. Most Americans, according to the opinion polls, don’t trust journalists, particularly those who are regarded as liberal and elitists.

In a way, many of those residing in Middle America agree with President Trump’s dismissal of what he refers to as the “legacy press” that is out of touch with most Americans.

This is a political and media reality very different from the one that members of the Class of 1980 had faced 45 years ago when the sky seemed to be the limit when it came to the job opportunities in journalism – and also to the prestige that we enjoyed as members of a free and vibrant press.