Saving the Beast

In newsroom slang, "feed the beast" was the cry that went up whenever deadlines loomed and the news needed more material. Reporters once did that work according to guiding principles such as professionalism and objectivity. Ted Czech argues that those standards have been abandoned, and that what the beast is now fed is tainted and is killing it.

He describes an unspoken bargain that once existed between the mainstream media and its audience. The public expected unbiased, objective reporting and in return gave news organizations its trust, its attention and its money. Over several decades, American journalism changed beyond recognition, and the public's response has been frustration, distrust and outright hostility.

Czech is a news reporter who became a media critic. He looks at the root causes of the problem and asks whether the old beast should be revived or left to die. In the second case, a new beast would be raised and fed by those the public judges better suited to the job.