POLLYWOOD | WHERE'S THE MEDIA?

Who speaks the truth when journalism and entertainment converge?

by JOHN PODESTA

Then blogs, documentaries and feature films deliver stories that newspapers and cable TV have left behind, what are the responsibilities of "traditional media" versus "new media"? To find out the Sundance Institute and the Center for American Progress co-presented a panel, "Where's the Media?" which attempted to make sense of this rapidly changing landscape.

Long presumed as a 'check' against injustices and abuses of power, the media has been criticized in recent times for seeming absent in that role—for failing to act on behalf of the public in the interest of truth. The public finds itself living with more media than ever before-an endless parade of talking heads on TV and innumerable radio channels. And, of course, there's the Internet which has ushered us out of the age of the anchorman and into the age of the blogosphere where technology and speed trumps all. But what does that mean for society and the common good?

A mix of filmmakers and journalists participated including Matt Cooper from Time, "Syriana's" Stephen Gaghan, Vanity Fair's Todd Purdon; Jehane Noujaim, director of "Control Room;" Farai Chidoya of NPR; and Eric Alterman a media critic and blogger. They discussed and at times sparred over the issues of entertainment, audience demands and responsibility.

Filmmakers Noujaim and Gaghan told stories no one was addressing. Gaghan also discussed wanting to tell tales that had no defined hero and no Hollywood ending: "Traffic" about the drug trade and "Syriana" about big oil. "Everything in those films is based on true stories," Gaghan replied when asked what responsibility he had for checking the facts in his work. "I'm a kid from Kentucky and it blew my mind"

An area of particular contention was the embedded nature of the national press corps

which have been as much a part of news stories this year as their subjects. From the use of intelligence to justify the Iraq war, to the Valerie Wilson Affair, panelists discussed whether traditional media is really covering important stories in an unbiased and courageous manner and how alternative media is fulfilling demands in the marketplace in significant ways.

Purdum agreed that it's good for mainstream media to be "goosed and pushed" by alternative counterparts, although he argued that journalists we're fulfilling their core mission. More fundamentally, he stressed that newspapers and network news outlets are "under siege"— with shrinking audiences and thereby reduced revenue streams. Panelists agreed that current economic models were not sustainable if corporate parents of media companies want the rates of return demanded by the marketplace.

When it comes to the marketplace, audience-driven content is the wave of the future. Panelists acknowledged there was increasing focus towards niche audiences—giving people what they want rather than what they might need to be informed citizens. Chideya asked "who can afford to broadcast when the market wants you to narrowcast?" She explained that media, new or old, must grapple with whether they want to serve the consumer or the citizen.

So where is the media? The answer to that question is that it is everywhere: from newsprint to film, from the web to mobile phones. The battle between traditional/alternative or old/ new is less about audience share than how the purveyors—be it Viacom or a lone blogger— serve two masters: the public good and the marketplace.