Legacy Media Face Hard Days

Garbed in lofty pontification on the value of free and fair press, the news media in the best of democracies have fumbled and backtracked at crucial times in the name of patriotic duty, national obligation or under financial and proprietorial pressures. War time journalism was, and still is, “sensitive” to the call of patriotic duty. Turning a deaf ear and blind eye to some events, mischiefs and individual weaknesses are give-ins to disintegration of nonpartisan practices. This is rarely acknowledged but widely practised.

Media, defined by past practices even in highly transformed societies by way of technological advances, vastly expanded choices, economic prosperity and new thinking, are legacy journalism in outlook and approach. 

In their enduring quality, legacy media are defined by yesteryears’ orientation, and lack of infusion of innovative approach to the profession in meeting the minds and demands of contemporary societies. This produces fossilised journalism and feebly tries attracting generations long past their forefathers and the forefathers as far as tastes and interests and concerned. 

Change with continuity could serve as a blending, balancing factor for an ever-evolving profession rather than a journalism that stalls timely changes. The outcome is a practice that is out of tune with the times and tastes of transformed societies at local, national and international levels.

Conventional ride

Media confined to legacy-ride presage an onslaught of stale and outdated approach to content presentation. There is no quick fix but efforts have to be made and seen in actionable acknowledgement of the demands of a fast-changing world, both economically and politically. The slower the acceptance, the deeper and longer the embarrassment and pain.

Thanks to the significant space created by advanced communication technology, the news media that traditionally commanded an awesome, and at times venerated status, are losing ground to alternatives that threaten their survival. Whether printed or broadcast channels, they are on the cross-roads. They either need to reshape their contents or await the times when their relevance and worth will be a far cry from what they used to be for so long. 

Will the legacy media continue exercising much clout in 20 years’ time from today? Those failing to decipher the script of the times come crashing down heavily into eventual oblivion or as a has-been. Refusing to reformat and change in content coverage and presentation leaves the floodgates of audience indifference hit news outlets hard. Which means the media live on the laurels of the past and the barrels of an uncertain future. 

A 2021 poll by Pew Research Centre found that Americans’ confidence in newspapers and television news had dropped to an all-time low. Political party affiliation guides the outlook of millions of American people regarding the issue of trust in media. Most Republicans do not trust mainstream media as reliable information sources. Television is ranked the second-least trusted institution, next only to the Congress. 

As little as 5 per cent of Republicans in the US have “a lot of confidence” in newspapers as against 35 per cent of Democrats. The drastic decline in media trust is attributed to “the horrible coverage” of events leading to the Iraq war and the coverage of the September 11, 2003 events in which Osama bin-Laden’s men attacked the New York Twin Towers and the Pentagon. 

Regarding the Iraq war, the noted media analyst Roger Stahl said: “The news media became so unpopular that at one point 62 per cent in a Washington Post poll said that the Allies should bomb a Baghdad hotel even if it were filled with Western reporters. More than 80 per cent told the Gallup Poll that they approved of tight restrictions on the media.”

Samuel Becker, an American communication scholar, warned in the 1980s: “Standaridisation of media contents has become an area of increasing concern for many people in rich nations. Heavy dependence on one or two news agencies has created this situation.”

The first witness in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, testified in a New York court that he used his supermarket tabloid to suppress stories that might have hurt Trump’s 2016 presidential bid. The Enquirer paid two people to peddle stories of Trump’s sexual misbehavior — a practice known as “catch and kill”. 

Indeed, competition breeds more competition — and perhaps better quality for audiences. US bans Russian and Chinese media, and the latest to be served with its ire is Africa. India ignored Washington’s advice to ban Russian media outlets. Others argued African nations should be allowed to voice their concerns and assert their right to govern themselves. 

Struggle for presence

In its initial years, Al Jazeera had to struggle for a foothold in the world media landscape. In September, Israeli troops forced into AJ bureau in Gaza and ordered it close for 45 days. AJ success inspired the launching of Russia TV (RT) and CGTV (China Global TV). In fact, AJ success led France to run a TV service in Arabic. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government plans to launch Door Darshan international news. Others governments have expanded their programmes for greater focus on Arabic programmes.

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in April 2024 said: “If the (western media) criticise our democracy, it is not because of lack of information. It is because they think they are also political players in our election.”  By the same token, all South Asian governments have valid grounds to direct the same question at each other and at those beyond the region: “If they criticise our democracy, it is both because of lack of information and because they think they are political players in our election?” 

Traditional media begin to feel the heat of competition. Big shots still woo them but the vast mass chase YouTubers for what the latter offer. YouRubers have begun setting up well-equipped studios. In the United Kingdom, 15,000 creators hire thousands of hands for their operations. With active support from Canada and the United Kingdom, the US persuades and, where possible, exerts pressure on other countries to block from their air waves channels Washington blacklists. This would mean asking free market of ideas champions to stew in their pontifications. 

Legacy media, or old media, should sift worthy contents from the mundane to reassure their audiences of their make and measure for reliable, accurate and professional public platforms. Otherwise, the new media will decimate them for good or bad.

(Professor Kharel specialises in political communication.)