President Barack Obama said in an interview Thursday evening that he believes the news media shies away from covering successes in government, but jumps to highlight failures.
Obama's sentiment captured in an article titled "Media too focused on failures, Obama says" from the online political news source Politico quotes Obama admonishing news outlets for neglecting to capture the good.
Politico quotes Obama saying, "When it comes to the management of government - part of the reason people are so skeptical is that - when we do things right, they don't get a lot of attention."
These comments from the president cause us as editors of a media organization and as American citizens a great deal of concern. While we acknowledge the importance of telling the full story and providing a reliable narrative, we question why the president now turns to the media seeking anything other than a bit of push back. The role of the media is to keep our government accountable, to serve as a means of checks and balances on those appointed to office and to keep those individuals grounded, reminding them of the interests they serve.
We put forth that while it is valuable to acknowledge successes in government, it is equally, if not more, important to acknowledge failures and to provide readers with enough information to act and create change within their communities and within their government should they see that a necessary reaction. The value of a democracy lies in the people's ability to choose. We as editors value the media's responsibility to help inform readers so that those readers may form informed opinions.
Unintentionally, Obama highlights the value of the media in that it holds government officials and entities responsible for their actions and inactions in the story published by Politico.
"That's true ... I have to consistently push on every cabinet secretary, on every single agency, 'How can we do things better?' And we can do things better," he said.
Constantly striving to improve is in no way a negative behavior, nor is it something this editorial board believes should cease. After all, is that not the platform on which Obama has campaigned and won over his past two terms? He pushed the slogans of moving "forward" and of "change we can believe in," but for some reason Obama seems hesitant to support a media that keeps his administration doing better and moving forward.
It is our opinion that the media serves a function, and that while often deemed too skeptical, it must continue pressing officials, public figures and others to move forward or be identified in their failure. Without this reporting of information no one can make informed decisions and no one can truly move forward.