Writing for The Atlantic about the controversy involving Jeff Bezos and the National Enquirer, former White House counsel Bob Bauer discussed the ongoing changes in journalism’s professional norms. Bauer writes:
In his recent book On Press, Matthew Pressman has written that the press is now “undergoing the greatest change in its ideals and practices … since the 1970s.” Norms of “objectivity” are under active debate and reevaluation.
The economics of the profession are relevant here, of course. Declining resources for reporting translate into more dependence on sources and closer relationships with them, and those relationships can be built on shared interests in a highly polarized political environment. This is especially significant at a time when, as Pressman points out, traditional news organizations are increasingly appealing to particular readerships characterized by distinctive political, ideological, and cultural commitments.
Read the article in The Atlantic here.