Are you seeing much of this lately? Lately as in the last 40 years? I certainly am not.
Yes accountability especially in the US is lacking. But there is some, there are formal ethical codices (i.e. see NPR's https://www.npr.org/ethics), there is proper journalism training (see e.g. the Annenberg schools).
If you compare the US media to other nations, and especially if you look at them historically, they have been pretty good at this.
I'd argue that your standards are probably too high. Accountability is a shitshow and virtually nonexistent across the globe. It's a darn lucky situation if you even have some.
[edit due to reply limit]: Of course NPR is biased, what do you expect? There is no neutrality in things that human believe. The difference is having public guidelines, committing to them and listening to criticism That's accountability.
Publishing a code of ethics means absolutely nothing if it is not followed.
For example, NPR’s code of ethics says “We know that truth is not possible without the active pursuit of a diversity of voices, especially those most at risk of being left out.” and “In all our stories, especially matters of controversy, we strive to consider the strongest arguments we can find on all sides, seeking to deliver both nuance and clarity.”
but just recently they had a segment where they spent an hour trashing free speech without a single person to argue in favor of free speech. So much for “diversity of voices.”
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/npr-trashes-free-speech-a-brie...
> I'd argue that your standards are probably too high. Accountability is a shitshow and virtually nonexistent across the globe. It's a darn lucky situation if you even have some.
I’d argue your standards are too low. Just because things are worse elsewhere doesn’t mean we should be content that things aren’t quite as bad here.
Replying to your edit: well, that is my point. They are all biased. This idea that having a public code of conduct means anything is nonsense.
When’s the last time a mainstream media organization was held accountable for anything? Even the people that helped sell the WMD lie are still in positions of power.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/iraq...
The reality of the situation is that there are no meaningful standards of conduct and everyone is biased. Legacy brands with elite clout are no different.
There are many well-documented cases where accountability failed, and brilliant people have written about it (Chomsky, Lippmann etc.).
But - and this is really important - it's not helpful to cynically assume that either everything is OK or that there is no accountability/meaning/use at all.
All of the important things in society (discussions, getting along, identification of problems, negotiating solutions) are not a state, but a process. There is accountability, but only as much as citizens and institutions manage to produce. Go ahead and help (constructively)!
The alternative to politics is (civil) war, the alternative to free media is basically the middle ages.
What's going on (by now, obviously) with Twitter and Facebook and all, is that they are a vector for bypassing skepticism, by delivering information purportedly from your personal friend who is personally trusted.
Still no neutrality, but if you can make a web of propaganda through people who are believing things their apparent 'friends' (through various signifiers) are saying, and coordinate that, you can propagandize WAY more effectively than through mainstream media.
And that's what's happening. Everywhere.
This is actually a great example:
- I broke the rules (code as law), but was transparent about it
- You held me accountable
- Others can read our exchange and adjust their trust (in me in particular)
That's a good outcome, I guess!
