In 2007, the FBI came up with a ruse.
Investigators emailed a fake Associated Press story to a 15-year old boy suspected of making bomb threats. When the suspect opened the email, spyware was planted on his computer, and he got caught.
For law enforcement, it was clever. But for the Associated Press, it was not cool.
In court, the AP said it’s not ok for the government to masquerade as the media, no matter what the reason. And while I think the AP is right, the story got me stewing – because some media, especially broadcast news, do something similar.
Lately, I’ve been binging on House of Cards, the Netflix series about a ruthless congressman and his wife. The main characters, played by Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, are ruthless and make for delicious TV. But one thing really makes me cringe. In the series, the media shows up as itself.
Real life reporters play a part in the story. CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield interviews Wright’s character, and that interaction gets woven into the plot. NBC’s Chuck Todd hosts Meet the Press and talks about the fictional characters as if they were real.
Now, it’s no secret why Netflix does this…..Their Machiavellian characters seem more plausible when they’re talking with – or being talked about by – real news people. But that doesn’t mean networks should play along.
Bear in mind, this practice isn’t new. Way back in 1974, Walter Cronkite turned up on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. And that appearance accelerated the practice of cross-promotion, having a well-known journalist in a movie or TV series to promote a news program. Since then, it’s become common.
The problem is this kind of promotion blurs the line between between play-acting and what we’re supposed to trust. Look at Brian Williams. For sure, the main reason Williams got into trouble was because he distorted what happened on stories he reported, but there was more to it. Brian Williams also lost perspective. He was showing up frequently on late night talk shows, playing the role of funnyman. I’ll be the first to agree Brian Williams can be wickedly funny – and also an excellent anchorman. But sorry, he can’t be both, at least not without selling out part of his integrity.
It’s really gotten out of hand. Media giants are so caught up in promotion, they forget when they agree to let their reporters be entertainers, their reporters will be perceived as - just that.
