Media Wednesday: consolidation is just as bad in local as national news, the Post's Seth Klamann and word choice, and the tone deaf hypocrisy of the Estes Park Trail Gazette.
Colorado Media Concentration ...
I have seen and read a fair bit about the topic of media concentration; that is more and more news outlets owned by fewer and fewer businesses.
If you are interested and do some looking, you will probably be surprised to find that disparate media outlets you thought couldn't possibly be under the same umbrella, are under the same umbrella.
This is a concern for many, myself included. I put a link to an article about mass media concentration first below if you want to read up on some history and get a big, national look at the issue.
This issue isn't just national, however. The second link below is to a media Substack I'm subscribed to by Colorado College journalism professor Corey Hutchins. Midway down the page, I saw an item about Denver-based Colorado Community Media buying up YET MORE local papers.
As a convenience, I attached screenshots of that item as 1 and 2 so you wouldn't have to go looking.
I am concerned about huge corporate conglomerations buying up big national media and putting them all under one roof. I am concerned about big national companies buying local media and gutting them for money.
I am just as concerned about groups buying up local papers to put them all under one roof. The fact that it might be a nonprofit group of "altruists" as opposed to big corporations makes little difference to me.
Humans are humans whether they are in a corporation or whether they assembled themselves into a group. All the ethics policies in the world and all the high-flying rhetoric by either group do not negate this simple fact.
And, even assuming no ulterior motive, the incentive structures, the outcomes that happen with consolidation don't change with scale or the fact that it's a bunch of local papers instead of giant nationals.
Local consolidation warrants as much scrutiny and concern as does the national version. As you consume media, do not forget to ask who is supplying it and what they're a part of. You just might find yourself as surprised at the consolidation locally as you would be nationally.
https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/media-concentration/
Words matter: the words used and the ones not used.
If you read the Post article by activist (oops, reporter) Seth Klamann linked at bottom you'll see lots of news about Polis signing into several measures passed by the legislature.
This isn't news, it's pretty old, but that's not the point. I want to call your attention to the words in the article. I want to call your attention to the words that are not used.
You'll see gun reform. Gun bills. Gun measures.
You will not see restriction. Gun control.
Following what I have seen from advocates of gun control, Mr. Klamann and the Post here choose the sanitized language that takes out any hint of a government "taking", any hint that the government is (especially here in Colorado) narrowing the window of what you can and can't do.
I got curious to know if this was a Seth Klamann thing, Denver Post thing, for a reporter's style guide. I also got curious to know whether or not anyone at the Post ever pushed back on this sort of sanitized language.
I emailed Mr. Klamann to inquire (see the email text below) and thus far haven't heard back. If I do, I'll update.
People are starting to wake up to the power of word choice and are starting to make conscious efforts at noting language. I hope this continues and I hope you too now make it a habit.
Because it is an important way that advocates sneak their opinions into news and into the culture as a whole.
Email follows.
Good morning sir,
My name is Cory Gaines.
I write for my little Substack and FB pages (as well as op eds around various outlets).
I am working on a piece and wanted to offer you a chance to have your perspective included.
I'm curious about the wording of your article; in particular, I have some questions about your word choice.
The article I am referencing is linked at bottom.
I see "gun bills", I see "reform", I see "gun-reform", I see "gun measures".
I do not see control, restriction, and I'm curious at the disparity.
Is this a personal choice on your part, or is it from a style guide (if so, which)?
Does anyone at the Post ever push back on this kind of language? After all, opinion on what these measures represent is not uniform.
Thank you and if a phone call would be easier or faster, please feel free. XXX-XXX-XXXX
C
https://www.denverpost.com/2024/05/16/jared-polis-colorado-firearms-vehicles-gun-reform-legislation/
The tone deaf hypocrisy of the Estes Park Trail Gazette
Let's round out the day with a final post exhibiting some of the tone deafness we see from the media. The kind of obliviousness to their own actions that we've come to know and love.
I saw the Estes Park Trail Gazette editorial op-ed linked first below about how local media are the (and no, these are not my words, they are the editorial board's own breathlessly overheated words) "guardians of democracy".
That's right, alone on the bridge defending you and your children from the horrors that might be visited upon them.
Oh, and as such, they need to be preserved. That is, they need money.
Now, when I read this I was struck not so much by the self-serving nature of the op-ed as I was by the memory of this being the exact same paper ...
guardians of democracy mind you ...
the exact same paper that let Congressman Joe Neguse write "articles" about all the wonderful things he was doing and then call it news (see their "author" page linked second below).
https://www.eptrail.com/2024/05/23/editorial-guardians-of-democracy-the-essential-role-of-local-newspapers/
https://www.eptrail.com/author/office-of-congressman-joe-neguse/