The New York Times in a World of Cable Channels and the Internet:

Truth-seeking Journalism Against the Trends of Shock-Factor and Hidden Agendas

Peter Pham
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You cant serve the public good without the truth as the bottom line, Carl Bernstein

observes about the journalism field and media industry. In fact, for a long time in American

history, the media remained as an institution built out the purpose of serving the public good on

the foundation that it would uphold the truth about all matters regarding public life to citizens

that make up the country. Time and time again, the newspapers and the media collectively have

reaffirmed their status as a bastion of truth that will shed light even to the most darkest of secrets,

plots, and lies (Hansen, 2008). During the Watergate scandal, it was the media that uncovered

President Nixons abusement of his executive power and prevented what would have become a

constitutional crisis in the country (Thomas, 2013). Yet, as the world entered the 21st century

and the Information Age, the role of truth and accountability upholder that the media once prided

itself over would begin to decay in an era plagued by obstacles to every component that makes

the media, specifically the newspaper, successful: revenue, audience, and overall public trust

(Hansen, 2008).

The 21st century marked the creation of the Internet, as platform and tool that has

dramatically increased the worlds populations access to information and opportunities to

socialize. As the Internet gains traction and becomes more trendy as a source of information for

people, newspapers begin to feel the repercussions of a rapidly evolving industry where the

audience is quickly scattering to alternative and more convenient sources of news while

advertisers shift their tactics to try to attract a larger audience elsewhere (Hansen, 2008). In this

scenario, the doom of even the most established newspapers, like the New York Times, seems

inevitable (Braun, 2011). Yet, the movie Page One: Inside the New York Times provides an

alternative narrative where the newspaper titan does not just survive, but thrives in the

Information Age with its widely respected reputation for accurate, impartial, and extremely
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analytical news work on the Internet. Despite the technological advances of the 21st century that

have cornered and suffocated the traditional newspaper industry, the industry will continue

prevail, because it is a public necessity that will continue to seek and uphold the truth to the

public in an increasingly machiavellian world (Fraser 1982).

Until the 21st century, the US news industry was dominated by national newspapers,

papers that covered national stories, and metropolitan papers, papers that covered mainly on

stories within metropolitan areas (Hansen, 2008). Some examples of national newspapers and

metropolitan papers include the Washington Post and the New York Times. However, beginning

in the 21st century, a new type of news and form of news organizations emerged. These came to

be known as Underground Papers, which got their name for being free to the public with their

source of revenue coming from advertisements and employing non-traditional, non-newspaper

methods to deliver the news (Hansen, 2008). Despite not being as credible as the established

newspaper industry, these alternative sources, which included brand names CNN, MSNBC, and

Fox, proved to be very favorable to the public for its upfront free cost while seemingly providing

the same type of information and news that one would find in a newspaper (Hansen, 2008). With

the Internet to mark the dawn of the 21st century, these news outlets were quick to capitalize on

the internet as a tool of mass communication to further consolidate its control of the media

industry. Simultaneously, the Internet became a platform for new legitimate and illegitimate

news outlets to be conceived (Hansen, 2008). With the rapidly increasing number of possible

news sources, the newspaper industry was ill prepared to face the tsunami of challenges that

would lead to newspaper companies vying to survive for another day (Braun, 2011). Page One;

Inside the New York Times details those struggles to reveal a glimmer of hope for the newspaper
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that has had a long history of keeping the American public informed in the US, while also

revealing the unfortunate shortcomings of modern news (Roberts, 2012).

Even though media has played the role of questioning the establishment (Thomas, 2013),

including governments, religious institutions, and public authorities, recent news organizations

have begun to implement a specific agenda through their reporting (Hansen, 2008). Whether it

may be VICE News trying hard to expose the most wackiest and barbaric people on Earth or

WikiLeaks claiming to make governments transparent by hacking in order to advocate (Braun,

2011), the Underground Papers that have surged in popularity (Hansen, 2008) with the public

have started to implement their own political, economic, and social agendas that has led to more

biased reporting (Fraser, 1982). Consequently, this fuels a situation where the media becomes

accused of being puppets of the elites, a foreign government, or special interest groups (Roberts,

2012). In turn, this damages overall public trust in the media that was meant to deliver the truth

to inform the public. As more news organizations go bankrupt due to stiff competition (Braun,

2011) and miniscule economic prospects while others are bought off by larger corporations, the

news industry has become more homogenous to a few humongous news corporations that adhere

to this code of ethics where reporters pander to a specific group or ideology (Hansen, 2008). This

only then defeats the purpose of journalism and the media, as these media organizations become

more focused on setting an agenda rather than reporting the information in its most raw form

(Fraser, 1982). These organizations, including WikiLeaks, see themselves as advocates rather

than journalists, and find that they must use their channels of mass communication to transmit

messages that detail what they view as making the world a better place (Braun, 2011).

On the more journalistic side of the spectrum, Page One: Inside the New York Times

reveals how the newspaper industry does not seek to follow this trend despite the growing
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number of agenda-oriented media outlets on the Internet, but instead continue its mission of

delivering raw and truthful content. Despite the exponentially amounting criticism from other

media company CEOs and predictions about the demise of the New York Times and other

newspapers, the New York Times was one of the few that survived as the New York Times stock

begins to U-turn in 2009 with more advertisers returning to the metropolitan paper (Braun,

2011). As readership gradually stops decreasing and begins to show signs of a revival, the New

York Times remains hopeful of its existence, mission, and values as editors recognize that the

times have changed. With that understanding, the New York Times editors understand that the

organization must evolve to adapt to upcoming technological advances while maintaining its

integrity and dedication to public service through fair reporting (Braun, 2011).

With that mission at the core of the New York Times existence, Page One: Inside the

New York Times provides insight and glimpses into the media industry that has been apart of the

American lifestyle for centuries (Hansen, 2008). It reveals the daily struggles of the news

industry to survive to the dedication of reporters to bringing the news despite any criticism of

their work (Braun, 2011). The movie unveils the barrier of mass communication that separates

the sender from the audience to connect the receivers of the medias messages to the people who

work capacious schedules and even risk their lives just to inform the people with no desires for

any compensation: financial, ideological, political, economic, social (Hansen, 2008). With the

movies release in June 2011, the New York Times stock has witnessed an overall increasing

trend since that looks contrary to the figure prior to 2009 (Braun, 2011). With the New York

Times long history of informing the public and its values being revealed in this movie, the New

York Times again cements its authority over credibility and news over the entire industry and

exponentially the entire USA.

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If UNESCO had a list of media heritage sites, the New York Times would certainly make

it to the list. Truly, this perennial newspaper has continuously delivered the most analytical and

truthful reporting that is incontestable by other news source. It world-class reputation to be

insightful rather than the fastest and dramatic is part of what has allowed the institution to

survive this long. In times where public trust teeters in their institutions, the New York Times

most definitely plants some comfort in the hearts of the doubtful and anxious so that they may

know that even in the darkest and ugliest of times, there is still a glimmer of palpable hope.

While current trends extol overall agreement ideologically and echo-chambers, the New York

Times remains a model for other media institutions to follow to become a reputable enduring

source of information for the public.

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References

Braun, J., Hand, D., Oxman, A., Schlesinger, A., (Producer), & Rossi, A. (Director). (2011).

Page One: Inside the New York Times [Motion Picture]. United States: Participant Media.

Fraser, J. (1982, Jan 15). Journalist's job is to toe line of truth. The Globe and Mail Retrieved

From

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5?accountid=38235

Hanson, R. E. (2008). Mass communication: Living in a media world. Washington, D.C: CQ

Press

Roberts, A. (2012). WikiLeaks: The illusion of transparency. International Review of

Administrative Sciences, 78(1), 116. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.fhda.edu:2048/login?url=http://ezproxy.fhda.edu:2061/docview/10105345

59?accountid=38235

TOP 25 QUOTES BY CARL BERNSTEIN. (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2017, from

http://www.azquotes.com/author/1316-Carl_Bernstein

Thomas, C. (2013, Feb 03). Journalist's job is primarily to question authority.Messenger Inquirer

Retrieved from

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47?accountid=38235