The Decline of Print Media: a Colloquium at St. Johns University

On Wednesday September 23rd, Associate Professor of Journalism Mark J. Prendergast hosted St. Johns first (and hopefully annual) colloquium in honor of Dr. Roger Wetherington, entitled "Journalism and Democracy."
The panel:

Arthur Browne - current New York Daily News editorial page editor, former editor for Bloomberg L.P, as well as a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Susan Edgerley - has been working with The New York Times since 1989, currently as the Assistant Managing Editor for career development and reinvention of the newsroom, and a former Metro editor.

Dr. Diane Heith - an Associate Professor of Government and Politics at St. Johns, who holds a Ph.D in Political Science, from Brown University, has authored numerous articles including "“Reaching Women: Soft Media in the 2004 Presidential Election Cycle", and "Footwear, Lipstick and an Orthodox Sabbath: Media Coverage of Non Traditional Candidates."

Mark J. Prendergast - currently an Associate Professor of Journalism at St. Johns University, as well as the ombudsman for Stars and Stripes, holds an MA in Journalism from Columbia University. Prendergast was a former editor of the New York Times for 13 years, and also worked for the Washington Post and the Daily News.

The topic of discussion was the decline of print media, its shift to online news, and its potential effect on democracy.
Browne stated that we're "in danger" with such a decline because information that the government doesn't give up willfully "takes work" and every piece of information we don't get becomes a "slice at democracy."
According to Browne, bloggers' "choice of topics are not serious" lacking "any form of serious reporting" that will be needed to pursue the harder bits of information the public needs, and has a right, to know.
Although that statement may have some merit, it's a dangerous thing to generalize. Yes, there are bloggers that use the domain to discuss nonsensical things, but there are others in fact do some serious reporting. Take Talking Points Memo and Footnoted , two informative blogs that report efficiently and thoroughly informing the public on matters of business and politics. Bloggers consist of a diverse population. In the industry of journalism itself, where some recent graduates from journalism school may find themselves unemployed, others, such as 23-year-old Rebecca Harshbarger have taken reporting into their own hands. She reports internationally, straight from Uganda into her own "Uganda Beat."
Dr. Heith points also points out that in spite of a decline in print media, "democracy will survive" because "we vote, and that's what we do in our democracy", and all that's needed is information.
"How do you know that this information is trustworthy?" Professor Prendergast questions, referring some online news mediums. That credibility is essential in order for citizens to make decisions such as "should we go to war or shouldn't we", he said.

Does that decision really lie in the hand of the citizens? And is print media a completely trustworthy source?

In March 2003, according to AEI Public Opinion Studies, a Pew Research Center poll found 59-percent in favor of taking military action in Iraq, and 38-percent of that 59 said that we should only attack Iraq if our major allies agreed to join.

But what information were the American people basing their decisions on?

Assertions were made by President Bush that Iraq was harboring "weapons of mass destruction." Although in January 2003 "no incriminating weapons [were] found" after UN "inspectors [were] allowed to check any suspicious sites nominated by the US or UK," according to Brian Toohey of The Sun Herald based in Sydney, Australia. Yet the American people were still led to believe, by the government and the media (print included), otherwise.

So is it really a question of the information medium that posses a threat to our democracy? Could these facts only have been unearthed from print-news media sources, or could've an online independent done the same?
Is it the decline of print that is a threat to our democracy?

Or is it is something greater?

The Federal Reserve

A lot of what has been dominating the news media recently has to do with the financial crisis of 2008, and how it is still effecting our economy and job markets today. An institution that has a significant influence over where our money is allocated, the decision to buy up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and other major financial decisions in this nation come directly from The Federal Reserve. In fact, the FED is what controls, regulates, and overseas the United States' banking system. Each dollar we hold in our hand is what's known as a Federal Reserve Note, a debt that is owed to the FED by the U.S Treasury.
In order to discern the news and attain a basic understanding of business and regulation in this country, one must become acquainted with the Federal Reserve, its roles, and how this institution affects our lives, much like the role of the government.

The current Chairman is Ben Bernanke who achieved his Ph.D in Economics from MIT. His thesis was titled, ""Long-term commitments, dynamic optimization, and the business cycle" - relating to the Great Depression and its causes. (source)

Below is a video that explains how the Federal Reserve came into existence, and how it operates our financial system.



Texas Congressman, Ron Paul speaks on the Fed. Reserve and the current crisis:

The Banking Regulatory System

With the one year anniversary of what Frontline on PBS called "The Meltdown" on Wall Street, reoccurring blame has been placed on the "lax regulation" of Wall Street, which includes investment banks and credit lenders. While the U.S. government decided how to handle the companies involved that were considered "systemic-risk", who had purchased toxic assets that were allowing their companies, along with many others in finance, to thrive. Actions were taken immediately (such as TARP and other federal funded assistance), along with talks of increasing the Federal Reserves powers to assist in future oversight in order to avoid another 'mortgage bubble' that severely shook the U.S economy and our capitalist system.
Lax regulation has been deemed one of the main reasons why the Wall Street collapse starting in September of 2008 occurred, but isn't the only theory that economists and law makers alike pose when analyzing the crux of the collapse; but is amongst the more commonly known.
The question is, how much regulation is needed? Is the fault with the amount of regulation, or does it lie with the quality of the committees and the regulators themselves?
To try and answer that question for ourselves, I've provided a list of just a few regulators that were actively overseeing the financial system during not only the financial collapse of October 2008, but also during the Bernie Madoff "ponzi scheme."

Clicking on the regulators will direct you to their website. Keep in mind that these are all government entities that report to directly to Congress.

Federal Reserve System : which lists its regulatory duties, including (but not limited to):

"Risk-Focused supervision, Supervision of International Operations of U.S. Banking Organizations, and Formation and Activities of Financial Holding Companies."

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: Duties which include:

"Examining and supervising financial institutions for safety and soundness and consumer protection"

Office of Comptroller of Currency - Who's stated objective in their website is:

"To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of OCC supervision, including reducing regulatory burden, along with ensuring the safety and soundness of the national banking system."

National Credit Union Administration: Established in 1934 after President Roosevelt signed the Federal Credit Union Act in order to "make credit available and promote thrift through a national system of nonprofit, cooperative credit unions." The NCUA is a:

"Independent federal agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions."

Office of Thrift: This office was also established after the Great Depression in the 1930's to supply "affordable home financing for Americans from all walks of life" that provided mortgage funding for savings associations across the country.

"The OTS is the federal bank regulator and supervisor of a dynamic and diverse industry of savings associations and their subsidiaries spread across the nation."

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council:

"The Council is a formal interagency body empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and to make recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions."

Conference of State Bank Supervisors: Founded in the early 1900's to "solve common problems of state bank regulators"

CSBS works to: "Optimize the authority of individual states to determine the activities of their financial institutions."


U.S Securities and Exchange Commission :

"The SEC oversees the key participants in the securities world, including securities exchanges, securities brokers and dealers, investment advisers, and mutual funds. Here the SEC is concerned primarily with promoting the disclosure of important market-related information, maintaining fair dealing, and protecting against fraud."

All quotations were taken directly off of the committee's websites.

Texting and Driving

The New York Times in this article here, touches on an issue that many Americans do while behind the wheel: instead of focusing their attention on the task at hand (driving); they're texting.
Motor vehicle operators appear to be taking their task lightly, not fully realizing that what they're operating has the power to take lives; including their own.
It's important that more people become aware of the dangers of such behavior, and that their full attention is required while operating a motor vehicle. Hopefully, when people are provided with knowledge, they will act accordingly with what they know.

The harsh realities driving while distracted, graphically demonstrated here: