The Journalism Ratings Board: An Incentive-Based Approach to Cable News Accountability

Selbst, Andrew

Abstract

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The Journalism Ratings Board: An Incentive-Based Approach to Cable News Accountability

Andrew D. Selbst

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

February 2011

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Vol. 44, No. 2, p. 467, 2011

Abstract:
The American establishment media is in crisis. With newsmakers primarily driven by profit, sensationalism and partisanship shape news coverage at the expense of information necessary for effective self-government. Focused on cable news in particular, this Note proposes a Journalism Ratings Board to periodically rate news programs based on principles of good journalism. The Board will publish periodic reports and display the news programs’ ratings during the programs themselves, similar to parental guidelines for entertainment programs. In a political and legal climate hostile to command-and-control regulation, such an incentive-based approach will help cable news fulfill the democratic function of the press.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 43

Keywords: journalism, cable news, media, First Amendment, market-based, regulation

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Date posted: March 16, 2011

Suggested Citation

Selbst, Andrew D., The Journalism Ratings Board: An Incentive-Based Approach to Cable News Accountability (February 2011). University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Vol. 44, No. 2, p. 467, 2011. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1766079

Contact Information

Andrew D. Selbst (Contact Author)

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

312 N. Spring St.
218P
Los Angeles, CA 90012
United States