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By Lanita Withers Goins , University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-3890
Dr. Geoffrey Baym
Posted 9-22-09
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Thirty years ago, a quarter of the American population gathered around their televisions nightly to hear an anchor from one of the major networks recount the day’s events.
Today, that single voice of authority has been diluted. People gather news from many sources – even shows created to mock the news.
Dr. Geoffrey Baym, an associate professor of media studies, explains that transformation in his new book, “From Cronkite to Colbert: The Evolution of Broadcast News.” In the book, Baym guides readers through the metamorphosis of broadcast news from the stately Walter Cronkite to the often sarcastic approaches of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, hosts of the popular faux news programs “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report,” respectively.
Baym argues that, as mainstream news has changed, broadcasts have morphed into echo chambers for political propaganda, worked to appease corporate and political forces and fulfilled the public’s fancy for infotainment news rather than perform its fundamental mission: to give citizens the information they need to be free and self governing.
“We might really like to know about Michael Jackson’s death, but that in no way helps us be free and self governing,” Baym said. “And as we hear about Michael Jackson’s death 24 hours a day, what are we not hearing about?”
In his evaluation, Baym finds an example of media best practices in the most unlikely of places: Comedy Central. Personalities like Stewart and Colbert are reinventing network television and doing in-depth reporting with their hybrid comedy news shows, findings ways to communicate about current events that are relevant to today’s audiences, he said.
The comedians don’t refer to themselves as journalists, giving themselves more latitude and freedom to be subjective, yet fair, in their reporting, he added.
“They are doing the heavy lifting of the Fourth Estate… they hold the powerful accountable and ask the questions that the regular people can’t ask. There’s tremendous evidence the media didn’t ask tough questions when the U.S. invaded Iraq. Yet it was on 'The Daily Show' and 'The Colbert Report' where they were asking those kinds of questions.”
Baym has firsthand knowledge of the evolution of broadcast news. A former television news reporter, Baym left the profession in the mid-1990s to pursue a Ph.D. in media studies. His dissertation compared the news coverage of the Watergate scandal to the coverage of President Bill Clinton’s involvement with Monica Lewinsky.
“From Cronkite to Colbert,” 197 pages, is published by Paradigm Publishers.