THOMAS: The Changing Media Landscape

By Cal Thomas

When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced last week that the briefing room is now open to reporters for "new media" – including podcasters and websites – she was acknowledging the power and reach of these outlets, which was demonstrated in the last election when President Trump made himself available to outlets that were ignored by the Kamala Harris campaign.

The "legacy media" are in decline and the new media are surging.

Part of this has to do with evaporating trust in what many regard as biased coverage by The New York Times – from which broadcast news frequently takes its marching orders – and other major newspapers and networks that reflect built-in biases.
 
Chuck Todd, who has been with NBC News for 18 years, is resigning. The former host of "Meet the Press" once said he would never have a guest on the program who didn't believe in "climate change."

Liberal Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus has resigned from the paper's editorial board to focus more on her column. The Post has laid off 100 employees and 25,000 subscribers have canceled their subscriptions – outraged that the paper declined to endorse Kamala Harris. The Post continues to lose money.
 
During other cultural transitions of the past, there were die-hards who tried to keep the future from happening.
 

• People opposed to civil rights legislation to protect minorities from discrimination may be the most obvious recent example, but there are many others.
  • There were those who resisted the transition from horses to motor cars.
  • There were some who thought the telephone was a fad, and that man was not made to fly.
  • Some Hollywood moguls believed TV wouldn't last.
  • There were people who once opposed coffee and refrigeration.
  • Now it's driverless cars that are raising alarms.

The one constant among resisters to change is that they are left behind when change comes. This is a continuing problem for much of the legacy media. Most seem incapable of self-reflection and have an ideological view that resembles "eat your vegetables because they are good for you." Their attitude seems to be that consumers of news should swallow whatever they offer, whether they like it or not.

This doesn't mean the media should avoid questioning the policies and pronouncements of President Trump or anyone in his administration. What it does mean is that their approach should not be one of "he can do no right'. (Yes, some conservative media think Trump can do no wrong, which is equally bad). It also means when Trump and other Republicans succeed, that success should be acknowledged, instead of ignoring it and moving on to new rounds of cynical questioning.

It may be too late for legacy media to redeem itself given the leftist bent of many within that cocoon. If they go the way of previous outmoded and irrelevant things, they will have only themselves to blame.

A free press is essential to a strong America. The arrival of new media may be journalism's savior.

Cal Thomas is one of America's most widely read & syndicated columnists, whose column is syndicated by Tribune Media Services in Chicago. He began his 40-year journalism career as a copy-boy for NBC News in Washington, D.C., and worked as a General Assignment Reporter & Anchor for both KPRC-TV in Houston and NBC News in Washington. For over 18 years, his column has been distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.