[lynx23]

Thats what most journalists do these days. I was even told straight to my face that "creative writing" was necessary as the mediaoutlet already knows what their readers like, and therefore facricate paragraphs which they know will be well received. Facts are unwanted, especially if they lead to complicated explanations. JOurnalisms is dead. Its only kept alive by the false claim that it (not in its current state) is necessary to keep democracy alive, which is also a self-surving lie at this point.

[blackeyeblitzar]

I’m open to this cynical perspective but what do you think the journalists feel about their profession? Are they simply doing this to survive and earn a living? Or are they aware of its corruption? Or do they somehow think they’re still performing the job of defending democracy? What about people like professors who teach journalism? It’s hard to imagine that everyone is totally corrupt as to not want facts, although I do agree that news outlets have biases…

[lynx23]

I am suspecting they are doing this simply to earn a living. Most people do. In the end, income is far more important then morale.

[somenameforme]

It's likely just a selection process similar to politics. Are you willing to lie, mislead, deceive, and sell yourself to the highest bidder? No, well then good luck beating your opponent who is doing all that, going to have more funding, more widespread appeal, and never a single inconvenient position because his positions on everything are whatever polling tells him the voter wants to hear.

Newspapers (and employers in general) can now do similar filtering, if they want to, thanks to social media. If you're not committed to pushing a desired narrative, and willing to spin anything to fit it, then you're not getting hired. And given the state of society today, it's unclear if a newspaper with objective or diverse reporting would be able to compete against the current batch of confirmation bias delivery services.

[eru]

Huh, I don't understand your reasoning.

The first half of your comment provides a sufficient reason why something resembling journalism stays alive: readers want these stories.

What does this have to do with democracy, and what's the causal chain that goes from democracy (or the zombie of democracy, I guess) to keeping journalism in suspended animation?

[lynx23]

Journalists claim their work is necessary for the democratic process. Which they use as a reason why their work is supposedly important, even though they are not really reporting anymore, just making up things.

[eru]

Sure, but empty (?) claims don't sustain existence.