WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s “Free Speech Week,” which commenced October 16, and in recognition of the nationwide annual celebration of America’s constitutional guarantees of free speech and freedom of the press, the head of the NAB has expressed the importance of broadcast news in an age of internet-delivered misinformation.
In a speech delivered Thursday evening at The Media Institute’s “Free Speech America” Gala, NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt placed a spotlight on newscasts delivered by live and local TV stations, and radio, too.
He delivered the remarks at an event honoring famed author and journalist Bob Woodward and former FCC Chairman Michael Powell — “true champions of our First Amendment rights,” LeGeyt noted. “With our nation at a crucial crossroads – where the trust, integrity and authenticity of journalism is at stake – we need people like Bob and Michael now more than ever.”
LeGeyt then called on attendees to “stand together,” because ‘the challenges have never been greater while the stakes have never been higher.” In LeGeyt’s view, the credibility of responsible fact-based journalism is under daily attack. “Meanwhile our society is under siege by the relentless tide of misinformation online,” he said. “This creates a double-edged sword where the simple fact of reporting the truth can often be perceived (or at least characterized) as taking a side or having a bias.”
With “fake news” on social media a problem that hasn’t abated, consumers should place further trust in broadcast journalism. LeGeyt pointed to recent comments from CBS News President/CEO Wendy McMahon that, of the thousands of videos that CBS sifted through to report on the terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas, only 10% of them were usable or authentic. “Thankfully, CBS and other responsible broadcasters are doing the hard work of thoroughly reviewing footage before airing it on their stations,” LeGeyt said. “Our broadcast network journalists also were quickly on the ground, putting their own lives at risk, to bring the facts back to the viewers at home. The social media and big tech companies are doing no such thing!”
LeGeyt continued, “Years into tech’s experiment to hold-up crowd-sourced social media content as a more ‘democratized’ form of news gathering, it is safe to say that it can never replace what journalists do, which is to provide the facts that calm the storms.”
He also called broadcast, print or digital media outlets that are “the bedrock of our democracy, and the public must be able to rely on us.”
To gain consumer trust, “We all need to up our game and be relentless to ensure that future generations can access and easily identify factual news and information, the very information that that keeps us safe and helps us make informed decisions,” LeGeyt added. “It may seem daunting, but the simple, undeniable truth is that what you do, trusted journalism, is the antidote to misinformation. And given the divisiveness in Congress and potential tsunami of political attacks that will accompany the upcoming election season, America’s leadership may need to come from our newsrooms delivered in the form of facts … Working together, we will ensure that the strength and freedom of the press are unwavering.”
