by Craig Colby
The Most Dangerous Lie
The Americans that attacked the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 raged to reporters “we’re good people” and “what are we supposed to do?”. They felt that they were defending their most sacred values. They weren’t the only ones misled and angry. 45% of Republicans polled think the seditious action was the right thing to do. President Trump put them up to it, but an entire network has been stoking that fire for decades.
Fox “News” has radicalized a large section of the United States with a steady stream of lies.
Fox “News” promotes itself as two things: a news department during the day, and opinion personalities at night. Their nocturnal carnival barkers have been pushing Trump’s false agenda that the election was not legitimate. The lies aren’t new. Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson lie all the time. Don’t take my word for it though. Listen to their lawyers. Fox “News” attorneys defended Tucker Carlson in court by saying he’s there for opinions, not accuracy. The judge agreed, saying “any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statements he makes." Basically, they say anyone with average smarts should know he’s not telling the truth. So what if their viewers aren’t reasonable, the bar set by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil?
The Enablers
It’s easy to blame Fox “News” for their irresponsibility, and we should because they’re still lying shamelessly, but they’re not the only responsible parties. The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates communication in the United States, oversees over-the-air broadcasters, but not cable channels. By ignoring supervision, the United States government has let Fox “News” lie unchecked for years. In fact, they’ve let everyone lie. So has the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. Programs like Storage Wars plant items in lockers and tell on-air characters what to say. Producers cobble together sentences from different parts of interviews to create Frankenbites. When a host and guest show up at a home reno, they’ll stumble upon a nicely dressed contractor who just happens to be there already at work. These things happen all the time. As a TV producer I can spot them and when I do, I usually change channels.
One reason so much of this occurs is that many producers and broadcasters have no idea about the journalistic principles on which documentaries, the father of factual television, are based. Two people I reported to at a broadcaster had no idea about journalistic guidelines. When I told them what some were, they didn’t believe me.
We all have to edit interviews and direct action, but I think fundamental mistruths about content erode people’s confidence in everything they see and read.
This has never been addressed, but it can be, quickly and easily.
The Fixes
First, production practices, on all channels - over-the-air and cable - should be reported to a regulating commission. Include documents from directors showing how scenes were staged. Include scripts with time codes at each edit so Frankenbites can be easily spotted. Sometimes sentences are cobbled together from statements made an hour apart. All scripts should be fact checked and submitted.
Won’t this create a lot more work and expense? Not really. If producers get money from the government, and most do, they are already required to hand in reports, including budgets, credits and the like to Telefilm in Canada. Release forms are gathered from everyone interviewed for production company lawyers. Directors routinely provide reports at the end of each shoot day, which are used to write and edit the show. The most credible broadcasters already fact check their scripts.
At the Smithsonian Channel, every script must be checked by Smithsonian Institution experts. I’ve worked with the Smithsonian Channel and can tell you the experts are thorough, which I always appreciated. We found the best way to get fewer notes from the experts was to provide footnotes of credible sources for facts in a script. I’ve carried that practice through to every show I’ve produced since. The bottom line here is that the Smithsonian Channel creates excellent, reliable shows and they’re successful doing it.
Next, put the scripts and reports online for the public to review. Would this be inconvenient? Not really. In Canada at least, producers are required to provide online content. Just make existing documents part of the deliverables. As a fan of footnotes, I’d love to read Last Week Tonight’s sourced scripts.
Once the FCC or CRTC has reviewed the content, they can issue qualifiers that must be aired before each show, or at each commercial break. One potential qualifier would be “this show includes staged scenes and scripted dialogue.” I’d even add “you can find the fact checked script for this show at (show web site)” at the end of each show. How hard would this be? Not hard at all. We already require warnings for bad language, violence, and nudity. Doesn’t the truth require the same consideration?
Next, we should insist everyone involved in the editorial content of a show - executive producers, producers, directors, writers, story editors, editors, and production executives at broadcasters - receive basic journalistic training. Would this slow down production? Nope. I’ve got a certificate showing I’ve attended training for safety on a set, and I’ve regularly been prepped on what we can and can’t do by lawyers. The truth should require the same investment.
Finally, broadcasters who break the rules should be punished by being required to air programs with intellectual or cultural merit they would otherwise never touch. The programs should be aired in prime time and be promoted like crazy. For example, as penance for Pawn Stars, the History Channel would have to show Wagner’s Ring Cycle in prime time. (By the way, there are some good productions available). What’s the downside of this? Maybe none. Here’s a dirty little TV secret. We don’t know what shows people will watch. We only know what shows they’ve already watched, so we guess based on that. Many hit shows surprised broadcasters. How It’s Made has a small budget and simple premise. The broadcaster had to be convinced to give it a shot. However, it’s a huge hit, airing in prime time all over the world. Some of these left field programs could become hits.
I want to be clear, I’m not talking about censorship or even changing production practices. We just need to be transparent about what we’re doing. People should know if the show they’re watching is real or staged. Will this revelation make viewers turn away in disgust? I doubt it. In the 1980s, during the wrestling renaissance, ABC’s 20/20 aired an item revealing the wrestling is not a sporting event, like boxing, but is scripted, like a soap opera. Wrestling has done just fine since then. If people like watching something, they’re going to keep watching it.
One more thing. If news channels don’t meet a minimum standard of accuracy their license should be pulled until they make changes to their editorial team. Lies that look like news isn’t just wrong, it’s dangerous.
Lies erode confidence. If people don’t know what to believe, they’ll believe whatever they want. Fox “News” should tell the audience exactly what they told the courts, “this show is giving you opinions and is not factually reliable.”
Honesty Is Not An Option
What’s the downside to transparency? There is none.
What’s the downside to unrestrained lying? It marched on the Capitol Building, killed five people and tried to stage a coup. Many of the angry people, incited by years of deception, are still out there. Who knows what they’ll do next?
Honesty needs to become part of the framework of our society. It must matter. On television it needs to be legislated because broadcasters and producers are unlikely to do it on their own.
Let’s start now. We’re already paying the price for our neglect.
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Craig Colby is a television executive producer, producer, director, writer and story editor. He runs a storytelling consulting and production service for businesses. He can be reached at craig@colbyvision.net for consulting, training or production.
This content has been corrected to reflect the FCCs lack of oversite of cable channels.