REGISTER UNCOVERS
MEDIA CONSPIRACY
PLOT BARED TO SUPPRESS GLOBAL NEWS
Network Television, Major
Newspapers,
Radio Stations
all Named In Investigation
Round Top -“A thing like this can take over your life.” The muffled voice on the phone sounded desperate. “It’s been bothering me ever since I started to read back in the ‘40’s but now I can’t sleep.” The call had come into the newsroom on a beautiful afternoon. We were feverishly composing the spring issue of the Register, unaware that we were about to be given a lead that would unearth the story of a lifetime.
The frightened man on the telephone rambled but the gist of his claim was that highly respected newspapers and other media outlets across Texas and the world were involved in an international conspiracy to suppress certain types of public information; “Good news” he called it.
When asked what he meant by “good news,” he stated that “good news” was any news that the person who heard it would want to happen to them and “bad news” was news that the listener would not want to participate in.
He claimed to have been in the newspaper business his entire life, stating that he was in a position to have privileged information about this conspiracy but that his job was at risk if his identity became public and therefore he refused to identify himself. When pressed for additional intelligence, he said he could talk no more but said that he would call again when it was safe.
“How will I know you?” I asked.
“I’ll identify myself as...‘the paperboy’ ” he replied.
A chill went through my bones as I got off the telephone. It was frightening to think that publications I had known all my life, like the Austin American Statesman, the Houston Chronicle, the New York Times; networks like NBC and CBS, major market television stations and others would become involved in such an insidious plot to subject the citizens of the world to an imbalanced amount of bad news.
My first reaction to the accusation was that it was ridiculous. How could such a conspiracy have gone on for so long without the facts coming to light? The whole thing was probably a figment of the poor man’s imagination. However, as a serious and dedicated newsman, I knew it was my duty to investigate and expose the truth.
I was in a difficult position. Like Woodward and Bernstein, I had a source that I couldn’t reveal and a story that, if true, people in power would do anything to suppress.
First I decided to do some research. Over a period of one week, I purchased a number of newspapers from large urban areas, such as Austin and Houston. I started watching the 6PM news and began to observe certain trends in the reporting that disturbed me. The Chronicle’s Feb 21st addition had...
for its page one banner with...
as a subhead. It was difficult to see this as a positive story despite Mr. Clinton’s praise.”
Directly underneath was a story about a safety panel faulting the rudders of 737’s for two fatal crashes. On the left was a story about Fina Oil and four contractors being forced to pay six million in fines for “flagrant” environmental violations and below that was a story about infighting between conservative members and the other members of the State Board of Education. The most upbeat piece was a report about how China was calm the day after the death of Deng Xiaoping. It was a depressingly typical day.
On that same day, the banner story of the Austin American-Statesman was:
Day after day I watched the child murders, the crooked politicians and plane crashes make page one while advances in medicine, improvements in the human condition and other “good news” were either buried or not reported at all. Occasionally, the evening newscasts would throw in some “token” good news at the end of thirty minutes of horrifyingly unpleasant carnage as if to say “The world may be a bleak and depressing place but here’s a little something to be positive about.” Somehow, I never finished listening to a news broadcast feeling cheered and empowered.
I began to suspect that there might be something to the “paperboy” and his story after all. I began to structure my investigation.
The common explanation for the fact that “bad news” gets more play than “good news” is that the reading public prefers “bad news” and will pay more attention to it. Supposedly, Joe Public has an unquenchable desire for carnage, tragedy, catastrophe and scandal. Therefore I decided to employ an impartial public poll to determine if this was true.
Over a period of one week, I asked a number of citizens in the town of Round Top, Texas the following question.
Amazingly, the answers to our unbiased public opinion poll were unanimous. Every single participant answered that they preferred “good news” over “ bad news” despite the common wisdom.
Next, I began to question the idea that there was somehow more “bad news” than “good news” in the world and that therefore, more “bad news” was bound to be reported. However, over this same period, my investigation found that in fact, more good things were happening than bad things. Admittedly, my statistics were not scientifically derived. Had I taken them say, the week my income taxes were due, I might have achieved different results. However, it seemed self evident that on the whole there was just as much “good news” as “bad news.”
So why was the “bad news” getting all the play?
Next, I looked at the argument put forth by some in the media that weather catastrophes, crooked politicians, police officers on the take, car wrecks, riots and wars were less common events than perfectly beautiful days, honest and public spirited politicians, heroic and selfless police officers, safe and competent teenage drivers and peace on earth...and being less common events...should get more presence in the news.
Yeah...right.
Finally, the time came to take my questions to the press. My first call was to the Austin American- Statesman. I asked to speak to someone with the authority to make decisions about what stories were placed on page one of the Statesman.
I was connected to the Metro Editor. I identified myself and explained that I was running a story about accusations that a number of publications including his own were involved in a conspiracy to suppress “good news” and further that they were slanting their coverage towards “bad news.”
The Metro Editor of the Statesman was unwilling for me to tape record our conversation saying he would not go on record without knowing the identity of my source.
I was unwilling and unable to reveal the paperboy’s identity and as I asked my questions, the editor became increasingly more defensive. Finally, calling the accusations “ludicrous,” he refused further comment.
The Metro Editor of the Houston Chronicle was more cooperative. He also declined to be recorded but his paraphrased responses to my questions are shown below.
1. Do you have regularly scheduled editorial meetings that determine what news is given the greatest play in your publication, for instance, what stories make page one?
Yes.
2. Have you ever heard anyone in the group that makes placement decisions say anything like “that’s what the public wants” when referring to “bad news?”
He said that his peers made that comment more often about a story that was unusual.
3. Is there something inherent in the nature of “bad news” that makes it legitimately more newsworthy?
He said he did not classify news as being “good” or “bad” but rather as “rare” or “common” He said that a story about a police officer who had done a great job and was given an award (depending on the significance of the award) was not as big a story as one about a police officer who had taken a bribe. He said this was because the honest officer was only doing his job and that a police officer who accepted a bribe was more rare and therefore bigger news.
4. Do you personally like to hear bad news.
No.
5. All in all, do you agree that there is as much good news in the world as there is bad news?
He asked if I would be interested in reading a story about an airplane that didn’t crash. (I replied that I would get to that later in the questioning.)
6. Do you remember running recently any page one story about a major politician where the focus of that story was the person’s outstanding integrity, genuine public mindedness and history of serving his or her fellow man?
He hesitated a while. I assumed he was thinking back into the past. He stated that the Chronicle had run such a series on Barbara Jordan at her death.
That was quite a while ago wasn’t it? (Barbara Jordan died January 17, 1996)
Yes
7. Do you think any such people (honest politicians) exist?
Yes
8. You regularly run front page stories with photos showing weather disasters, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and the like. (The cover photos of both the Chronicle and the Statesmen on the 21st were of recent flooding) Can you remember a page one story about a particularly beautiful day?
No
9. Do such days exist?
Yes
10. Do you ever run stories about airplanes that don’t crash.
He responded that it depended on why the plane didn’t crash.
11. Do you like it when bad things happen to people? (At this point I had determined that the Metro Editor of the Houston Chronicle was a nice guy. He was being a good sport and so I answered the question for him.)
Of course you don’t.
12. If you were at home watching TV and someone walked up to you with some news, would you want it to be good news or bad news?
He allowed that if he was at home watching TV, he would rather hear good news.
CBS, NBC, Fox Network, ABC, CNN, the Dallas Morning News and the National Inquirer all refused to answer our questions or were unavailable for comment. The New York Times, still caught up in their print war with the Round Top Register, also refused comment.
It was beginning to look like we had uncovered the tip of a media conspiracy iceberg but I was still lacking any real proof. Despite appearances of wrongdoing, I began to think my evidence was a bit thin. Perhaps all of these media decision-makers just happened to think alike. Perhaps there were real but unapparent economic reasons why “bad news” was dominating the world of journalism. Perhaps there really was a tooth fairy.
That’s when he called again. “It’s me,” he rasped, “...the paperboy.”
My stomach froze. I spoke in a whisper. “I’ve been working on the story,” I said, “but I need something more. I’ve got to have something concrete, a ‘smoking gun’ I can use for evidence of the conspiracy.”
“Evidence?”
“Yes, evidence. I’ve called all these big city newspapers and made a fool out of myself because you told me you’d been in the newspaper business all your life and could get me the goods. Now I need to know what real evidence you have about the conspiracy so I can wrap this story up.”
“Conspiracy?”
“Yes, the conspiracy to suppress good news!”
“Oh yeah, gets old doesn’t it...yep... been in the business all my life. I told you I was your paperboy. I’ve had your route since 1946. I’m just calling because you’re late on your bill.”
I decided I would defer further investigation until a later date.
