Editor, Commonwealth:
Last summer, we received an invitation, along with a crisp dollar bill, to become a “Nielsen family.” Curiosity required that I respond, so I set an appointment for them to meet me at my home. Essentially, each of our TVs would have a box connected to it so that if my wife, son, parrot and I were all watching different programs, that data would represent 160,000 (four sets times 40,000 each) households.
We could choose to activate or deactivate the equipment for any given show. No one would ever know that my wife watches “Real Housewives” or that I am addicted to Andy Griffith. Or, when going on vacation, we could leave all 4 TVs on one of those 24-hour infomercial channels just to really mess with the system.
That I, individually, represent 40,000 households is even less a violation of statistical law than are “scientific polls.” The samplings are smaller. With the slightest change of phrasing, the same person can give two opposite answers to the same question. And, very often, those asked to respond will refuse, simply lie or provide an uninformed opinion. Yet “poll results” are an integral part of every day’s “news.”
Regardless, these two marketing gimmicks are responsible for the demise of broadcast journalism, information and critical thought among the public.
Space doesn’t allow mention of dozens of other true journalistic pioneers. I’ll only reference two of the most prominent icons. Walter Cronkite and Ed Murrow commanded a well-earned respect for integrity, dignity and objectivity. More importantly, when they reported on World War II, they were or had been on the front lines, surviving weeks of aerial bombings among their years of experience. They did their own investigation, wrote their own copy (often during commercial breaks), studied developing current events and issues, knew more about the topics than any person that they interviewed, but never expressed opinion.
Due to the limitations of black-and-white cameras, they wore green makeup and black lipstick. They wore $40 suits and got $2 haircuts. Whether the news was good or bad, their delivery and facial expressions never changed. With nothing more than facts and face-to-face interviews, they exposed and defeated LBJ’s warmongering, McCarthy’s fascism and Nixon’s crimes.
Today opinion, ignorance and $300 haircuts prevail. A dozen nameless, unmemorable, 20- to 30-somethings prattle and yell at — talk over — each other, spouting undocumented and wholly nonsensical “facts.” “Fair and balanced” — objectivity — do not require that every self-serving agenda be given two minutes of face time. Coverage of speeches entails a split screen — the audience can see the muted speakers, but the “newscasters” continue to do all the speaking.
It used to be that journalists delivered the news sans rhetoric or showmanship. Editorials were a separate segment and identified as such. It used to be that journalists were journalists.
Now the ratings and polls charge the networks for their “results.” The networks charge the advertisers. And the sponsors charge the consumers.
I mailed Nielsen their dollar back.
Mike Stanton
Bellaire, Texas
