Public broadcasting needs independent accountability

Public broadcasting receives only $3 per capita of public funding in the United States. That minuscule amount may be on the chopping block by the Trump administration as well. However, no matter the amount of funding public broadcasting receives it needs to be held accountable for the content that they produce.

Even though PBS often is criticized for being too liberal, a study done by media watchdog FAIR found that PBS Newshour actually tends to over-represent conservative voices on their flagship show.

A couple major highlights from the FAIR study:

"Among partisan sources, Republicans outnumbered Democrats on the NewsHour by 2-to-1 (66 percent vs. 33 percent). Only one representative of a third party appeared during the study period."

"People of color made up only 15 percent of U.S. sources. African-Americans made up 9 percent, Latinos 2 percent, and Asian- Americans and people of Mideastern descent made up one percent each. Alberto Gonzales accounted for more than 30 percent of Latino sources, while Condoleeza Rice accounted for nearly 13 percent of African-American sources."

These findings are quite alarming. They depict a nightly news show that clearly has a partisan tilt and a diversity problem. 

These results clearly show that PBS needs to reevaluate their editorial standards, as well as attempt to find more partisan balance and diversity among their guests. 

Why does my Netflix keep buffering?

When it comes to internet speed, you might think the U.S., with its litany of international web-based companies, would top the global list. However, a study released in 2014 found that the U.S. ranked 31st in the world in terms of download speeds and 42nd in the world in terms of upload speeds. Surprisingly mediocre.

So, why is it that the U.S. internet lags behind the other major world internet powers?

One major reason is a lack of competition.

As Wired Magazine explained in 2013, this lack of competition can partially be attributed to local governments and their exorbitant fees to construct networks.

"This reduces the number of potential competitors who can profitably deploy service — such as AT&T’s U-Verse, Google Fiber, and Verizon FiOS. The lack of competition makes it easier for local governments and utilities to charge more for rights of way and pole attachments."

These barriers to competition allow for a few cable companies to dominate the market. This causes internet companies to not strive to provide the fastest internet possible. If they can continue to succeed with only middling internet speed levels, why improve? 

So what are the solutions? 

One is innovative ways of delivering internet. Monkeybrains a San Francisco-based ISP uses roof-mounted wireless connections and direct fiber access to deliver "insane internet speeds." Another option is for the government to subsidize the internet and offer packages to low-income households. With more demand for the internet, competition may increase as well. 

Unethical or the new normal?

When Mayhill Fowler published the comments of then presidential candidate Barack Obama at a closed to the press campaign event, where the candidate said its not surprising that small town workers "get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Fowler was not supposed to be at the event during which Obama made those remarks, but that didn't stop her from publishing them to the Huffington Post website. Her editors found that publishing the remarks were ethically sound. 

Six weeks later, Fowler repeated her feat of getting seemingly off-the-record remarks to go viral with recording President Bill Clinton to call a Vanity Fair writer "slimy" and "dishonest." 

In both occurrences, Fowler failed to disclose that she was a journalist to Clinton and Obama. In both occurrences, Fowler published the remarks without ethical qualms from her editors. 

Call me old-fashioned but I believe that catching these unguarded moments is a form of gotcha journalism and is largely unethical. While I wouldn't go as far as this blogger in calling her a "manipulative hack," but sneaking into private events to try to catch a Presidential candidate in a rare moment of honesty seems slightly unethical to me.

At the same time, Fowler's reporting seems reminiscent of the comment made by presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012, when he said 47 percent of people were dependent on government services and would vote for Obama no matter what.

So, were Fowler's actions actually unethical? Or am I instead biased towards her more dubious reporting techniques because of how they affected a candidate from the political party I identify with?

Hoaxes, fictitious articles and slander

The editorial standards at Breitbart News have been historically, horrendously low. The "news" organization founded in 2007 by Andrew Breitbart has consistently falsified stories, created video hoaxes and stirred partisan tensions.

At first glance, Breitbart and their family of websites might seem like an independent media victory. While they are partisan (as many independent media sites are) they have still been able to attract quite the following. According to similarweb.com, Breitbart receives 92.2 million page views every month.

Yet, when one digs deeper into Breitbart's past, you realize that the majority of Breitbart's big "scoops" have been falsified stories.

As media watchdog FAIR highlighted in 2010, one of Breitbart's greatest accomplishments was forcing USDA official Shirley Sherrod to resign over allegedly racist comments. However, the full video of Sherrod's comments made it clear that Breitbart had selectively edited the piece to portray Sherrod as racist.

The FAIR article also pointed out another selectively edited video scandal. Undercover "reporters" took on the roles of a pimp and a prostitute to try to bait ACORN employees into providing them support in creating an underage prostitution ring. Yet, it turned out that once again the videos were heavily edited and these so-called "reporters" had misrepresented their efforts in their videos.

Breitbart's propensity for these undercover videos demonstrates what separates itself from a more reputable news outlet. These repeated mischaracterizations of situations elucidates how Breitbart is more interested in receiving attention than they are in reporting the truth.

Transparency necessary for blogs, independent media

On Joho the Blog's July 2009 blog, they argue that transparency is the new objectivity.

The blog argues that transparency now supersedes objectivity for bloggers and other members of non-traditional news journalism. In the age of articles full of links, this transparency allows for readers to view the thought process behind an article and how the claims are backed up. As the blog states, "In the Age of Links, we still use credentials and rely on authorities. Those are indispensable ways of scaling knowledge, that is, letting us know more than any one of us could authenticate on our own."
In addition to this being the "Age of Links," this is also the age of social media, where transparency is the name of the game.

Journalists have found that Twitter is a place to not only share their finished products, but provide updates about their work as their stories progress.

One of the most prominent recent examples of this transparency is the work of David Farenthold, a reporter for The Washington Post. During the 2016 election season, Farenthold dug into the charitable donations of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Yet, what allowed Farenthold to stand out and gain more traction with his endeavor was the use of Twitter. 

Farenthold's efforts coupled with the support he received from Twitter demonstrates how transparency can help strengthen journalism. By being transparent with his efforts and continuously updating his followers about his investigation, Farenthold received tips as well as ongoing support from his readers.

As CNN reported in September 2016, "Fahrenthold has also used the social networking site to educate readers about meticulous reporting methods -- making them feel like a part of the effort."

I believe this form of transparency and engagement allow for readers to be more engaged in the journalism process. The more engaged they are in this process, the more likely they are to read and pay for said journalism.

YouTube an avenue for indy media?

Since beginning their monetization program, YouTube has become a hub for video personalties to make real money from their videos. As the New York Times reported in 2008, some individuals like Michael Buckley have made serious cash — over $100,000 — from YouTube advertisements. Buckley is a host of a celebrity talk show and now a "certified life coach," but he and many other YouTubers are far from journalists. 

Many of the top YouTubers, listed here by number of subscribers, host comedy shows or are professional musicians and entertainers. These famous YouTubers are able to amass vast fortunes, such as famous comedian PewDiePie who earned $12 million in 2015. 

Yet, as this is an independent media blog, what sparks my interest is the potential of YouTube as an outlet for independent media and an alternate revenue stream. 

One prime example of reaching a wide audience on YouTube is online news show The Young Turks. The Young Turks has over 3 million subscribers on YouTuber with over 3 billion views on their videos. They've been on YouTube since 2005 and over the past 12 years have built quite the base of support. 

The Young Turks should serve as an optimal model for independent media companies hoping to attract a fan base on YouTube. By posting often and with a diverse set of videos, from quick reaction videos on current events to fully produced segments, The Young Turks has videos for every occasion. On YouTube like many other mediums, content is king. 

Bloggers deserve access and protection

In 2008, Lake Oswego, Oregon drafted a policy narrowly defining media members as those at outlets with multiple personnel and registration with the state Corporation Division. The policy clearly excludes bloggers, which have been regularly disrespected.

Yet, the disrespect for bloggers in Lake Oswego might extend to professional journalists themselves. Tim Knight wrote a blog going to great lengths to separate journalists from what he calls "citizen bloggers."

"Journalists are different from other people. We're trained to report on all sides without fear or favour. We're trained to serve the people, not the powers that be -- which includes governments and our unions and our political beliefs and the nice people who sign our cheques."

Knight might be right that bloggers don't always hold themselves to as high of standards as other professional news outlets, but that doesn't mean they have a right to cover the news with the same constitutional protections. 

These constitutional protections were affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court in 2014.  Giving bloggers and journalists the same level of protections. 

With an increasing number of people choosing to get their news from blogs, bloggers must be respected and afforded the same opportunities to create content as professional journalists.