The Bailey Blog

“The State of the News Media, 2008,” a 700-page comprehensive look at the state of U.S. journalism by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts was released today.

Of the many interesting things they found to talk about, one in particular caught my attention: The agenda of the American news media continues to narrow, not broaden.

People often talk these days about the 24-hour news cycle. Well, guess what, there has always been a 24-hour news cycle. I remember when CNN was referred to as “the fledgling Cable News Network.” I remember as a young journalist thinking about the amazing possibilities that would be laid before us in a true 24-hour news delivery cycle. I was excited about the stories we could cover if we just had more pages or air time to give them. Or maybe some of the stories we already were covering would be better because we could go more in-depth or produce more sidebars and follow-up stories.

Religion is a major source of friction in this country and around the world. Race relations are better in many ways but worse in so many others. Education – from philosophical debates to funding – is a major concern for parents with kids from kindergarten all the way through college. Transportation in this country is facing a major funding pothole – especially if you live in Michigan. The legal system is fraught with absurdity and abuse. Housing is exploding across the landscape one minute and tumbling down in a foreclosure hurricane the next. An aging population straining an already over-burdened health care and social protection network is a growing problem with generational repercussions.

These are the stories that could be told and should be told – all day, every day. Instead, the PEJ reports, each of the topics above each received less than 1% of the news hole in 2007.

Oops, I have to go now – there’s a breaking news alert about how much money Paul McCartney’s ex-wife is getting in their divorce settlement…