The Death Of Media Must Be Silenced

 

The number of journalists and media workers in 2022 that were killed while on the job increased by 40 percent from the prior year. It is open season on democracy’s greatest insurance policy.

The International Federation of Journalists says that 67 media professionals died globally this past year. 375 other journalists are in prison.

Some may say that is the price of freedom, and considering the group has 600,000 members, we should not worry. But one death is too many — and the huge death-toll spike is alarming.

For every journalist killed for seeking to speak truth, report facts, and state opinions contradictory to those in power, how many are threatened or live in fear? How many were forced by others to change their reporting? How many self-censor out of intimidation? How often are they banned, censored, or jailed?

Journalists, the Fourth Estate, is all that stands between the citizenry and the government. Without the checks and balances put onto the forces of power, our country would be left in the dark, subject to many more liars, crooks, and corrupt people and organizations than there are already. True, we know we are losing this war, but we need the bleeding to stop — figuratively and literally.

Journalism has taken a hit this past decade. Aside from the killings, beatings, jailings, and threats by outside forces, the industry is dying from within. A lack of subscribers/viewers/listeners and a downturn in advertising/commercial revenue is causing the media to fall into the red. Journalism is suffering for it.

Many factors have sprouted up to combine to severely harm the news media and undermine the people’s trust in it. Look at these problems:

* Fake news allegations that have no merit
* News that was indeed fake
* Shrunken news staffs
* Leaning on opinion instead of news
* Sharing views as if facts
* The politics and proclivities of media owners’ bias implemented by editors and producers
* Sloppy or diluted standards in the news room
* Ethical shortfalls in the process of reporting the news
* The megaphone distortion of legit media on social media
* Too many unsubstantiated rumors and reports circulating without confirmation

The news media landscape has been in disarray for a generation. Things will need to change for it to survive in a viable form that still serves citizens. The starting point needs to be that we protect the lives of those whose only crime is that of being a journalist.

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Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2022. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.2 million pageviews. With 4,400+ posts over the past decade, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and two jobs at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Susan RoAne, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America, and has spoken at ASJA, IBPA, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. He has been featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.