Media’s self-esteem

So we have yet another wrongheaded lamentation about how the public hates the news media, which, in turn, hate themselves (“Trashing the Media,” Jan. 11). I wish I had a dollar for every one of these breast-beating stories I have read in recent years, to say nothing of the dozens of conferences I have attended at which editors, publishers and reporters have uttered the equivalent of, “Oh, my God, they don’t like us. What can we do about it?”

Instead of these mea-culpa outbursts, why don’t the media defend themselves as the fairest, most professional and freest in the world? The plumbing industry probably puts more effort and money into public relations than media organizations. Yes, the media make mistakes and, unfortunately, sometimes hire jerks, frauds and incompetents. When they’re wrong they should own up to it, and they generally do. But they should not let themselves be periodically scapegoated without fighting back. The U.S. media should be proud of the job they do. I’ve been a journalist almost all of my adult life, and I’ve never seen reporting to be as good as it is today.

Mike Stein

Irvine