From Spin! How the News Media Misinform and Why Consumers Misunderstand, by Bob Conrad, Ph.D.

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The historical influence of citizen journalists was maintained in the vibrant independent press. Ben Franklin is one example, as was the long-standing publication I.F. Stones’ Weekly, called a “journalistic triumph of the 20th century.”

According to a Stone biographer, Myrsa MacPherson, “Stone went from a young iconoclast in the 1930s to an icon during the Vietnam War. In the fifties, he spoke to mere handfuls who dared surface to protest Cold War loyalty oaths and witch hunts. A decade later, he spoke to half a million who massed for anti-Vietnam War rallies. He became world famous.”

Stone, however, was an aberration in terms of popularity. The underground press grew and waned in popularity in certain periods of history, such as the sixties, but it was generally more easily ignored as circulation numbers frequently could not compete with mainstream media.

The so-called ‘zine revolution of the 1990s, in which personal computers, desktop publishing software and Kinko’s enabled anyone to publish (maga)zines, was popularized in the mainstream press, for example. This revolution was but a spark of what was to come.

Now, bloggers and citizens regularly break news – via text messages, posts, tweets and instantly uploaded photographs and video – to the point that citizens are frequently the most critical witnesses to historic events.

When the news media are honest, they credit their citizen sources and may even link back to them online. The role of the press has therefore been irreversibly changed.

Is it possible then, that news media watchdoggery now signifies an inflated sense of self-importance based on the historic significance of journalism in society rather than on a true reflection of the press’ current role? Some signs are pointing toward answering this question with a “yes.”

Read Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6