Lyles: The demise of media

The mainstream American media is in crisis not handling it well. Polls continue to show a serious and substantial erosion of media trust. The media is in a credibility war with the president of the United States and appears to be losing.

It is a huge mistake for journalists to try to convince the public that all journalists and their organizations should be treated with unfettered respect solely because they belong to a noble profession. Journalists should be treated based on how well they perform and the reliability of their commentary. Media outlets should be treated based on the collective performance of their enterprise.

People understand occasional mistakes and will forgive them. However, current polls show they won’t accept patterns of bias and misrepresentation repeated over time. It’s just as wrong to defend dishonest and biased reporting in the name of free speech as it is to defend police brutality in the name of public safety.

Another major mistake many in the media are making in response to the crisis is to attempt to fix the blame elsewhere. Media mavens cite shrinking budgets and reduced staff as a primary cause of faulty reporting. Newsflash for these mavens: every industry that has existed for any length of time has experienced industry-wide revenue reductions and staff cuts. Companies that responded by lowering their standards and compromising their values went out of business. Those that remained true to valid core values survived. The same will happen in the media. The problem isn’t reduced staff, it is false and biased reporting.

The best-run companies know that mortgaging the long-term in order to maximize immediate returns is the road to a slow and painful death. Media companies are not exempt. Buying today’s ratings by compromising standards and values for sensational-but-false or biased stories is what created this dilemma. Continuing to compromise will lead not to recovery, but to demise.

Trying to convince people the president is attacking free speech when he gives out his Fake News Awards is also a non-starter with most Americans. It is ludicrous to imply we must protect false reporting to demonstrate America’s commitment to free speech. The 10 examples Trump cited were valid. Everyone knows he could have cited many, many more, so get over it.

If leaders in the media acknowledged the mistakes and called for a restoration of standards, I didn’t see it. Most responded by attacking the president personally. How do you win that battle, even if you buy ink by the barrel? You don’t, which is one reason the media is losing.

If you can’t prove the Fake News mentions are not examples of false reporting, then acknowledge the blunders and move on. But simultaneously strive to restore industry standards in the process. The truth always wins in the end, and nowadays most people are pretty good at figuring out the truth.

Foremost, to regain America’s trust, all members of the media must re-commit to a valid purpose. The only legitimate purpose for media in a free country is to seek, understand and present the truth. It is not the purpose of the media to follow CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s lead and adopt as its purpose to “protect the country from Trump.”

It is the responsibility of all journalists to tell the truth, regardless of personal opinion or preferences. It demeans Americans to assume that the media must do their thinking for them. Tell the plain truth and let the people decide. That’s the only way a free press can legitimately serve a democracy.

Lyles, a Poway resident, is a management consultant and best-selling author.