[00:03.75]2001 Passage3

[00:07.47]Why do so many Americans distrust

[00:10.22]what they read in their newspapers?

[00:12.44]The American Society of Newspaper Editors

[00:15.26]is trying to answer this painful question.

[00:18.29]The organization is deep into a long self-analysis known

[00:22.61]as the journalism credibility project.

[00:26.55]Sad to say, this project has turned out to be

[00:29.92]mostly low-level findings about factual errors

[00:33.66]and spelling and grammar mistakes,

[00:36.07]combined with lots of head-scratching puzzlement about

[00:39.39]what in the world those readers really want.

[00:42.72]But the sources of distrust go way deeper.

[00:46.65]Most journalists learn to see the world

[00:49.17]through a set of standard templates (patterns) into

[00:52.81]which they plug each day's events.

[00:56.43]In other words, there is a conventional story line

[00:59.56]in the newsroom culture that provides a backbone

[01:02.68]and a ready-made narrative structure

[01:05.11]for otherwise confusing news.

[01:08.74]There exists a social and cultural disconnect

[01:12.06]between journalists and their readers,

[01:14.48]which helps explain why the "standard templates"

[01:17.42]of the newsroom seem alien to many readers.

[01:21.45]In a recent survey,

[01:23.17]questionnaires were sent to reporters

[01:25.09]in five middle-size cities around the country,

[01:28.93]plus one large metropolitan area.

[01:32.55]Then residents in these communities

[01:34.87]were phoned at random and asked the same questions.

[01:39.21]Replies show that compared with other Americans,

[01:42.73]journalists are more likely to live in

[01:44.95]upscale neighborhoods,

[01:46.97]have maids, own Mercedeses, and trade stocks,

[01:50.50]and they're less likely to go to church,

[01:53.12]do volunteer work, or put down roots in a community.

[01:57.85]Reporters tend to be part of a broadly

[02:00.51]defined social and cultural elite,

[02:03.26]so their work tends to reflect

[02:04.97]the conventional values of this elite.

[02:07.90]The astonishing distrust of the news media

[02:10.52]isn't rooted in inaccuracy or poor reportorial skills

[02:15.06]but in the daily clash of world views

[02:17.37]between reporters and their readers.

[02:20.70]This is an explosive situation for any industry,

[02:24.33]particularly a declining one.

[02:26.95]Here is a troubled business

[02:28.32]that keeps hiring employees

[02:30.75]whose attitudes vastly annoy the customers.

[02:34.60]Then it sponsors lots of symposiums

[02:37.54]and a credibility project

[02:39.26]dedicated to wondering why customers

[02:41.80]are annoyed and fleeing in large numbers.

[02:45.53]But it never seems to get around to noticing

[02:47.84]the cultural and class biases

[02:50.67]that so many former buyers are complaining about.

[02:54.71]If it did, it would open up its diversity program,

[02:58.34]now focused narrowly on race and gender,

[03:01.46]and look for reporters who differ broadly

[03:03.99]by outlook, values, education, and class.