I was part of a panel hosted by the League of Women Voters this morning. The topic was “the role of the media in a democracy.” Since I was a participant, I didn’t take notes or anything, but Elaine Hopkins did, and her report is here.

One of the most interesting discussions to me came about when one of the audience members asked why TV and radio news broadcasts do not air editorials. I’ve long wondered the same thing. At the Journal Star, of course, they have an editorial page, and the writers give the viewpoint of the paper itself. But television and radio news broadcasters don’t do that. Why not? Wouldn’t it be helpful to know the position of the news editors at all the media outlets?

The answer each of the participants gave was pretty much the same: editorials hurt ratings and lower the credibility of the newscasts. If they posit their opinion on the news of the day, they at worst alienate some viewers/listeners, and at best make their viewers/listeners suspicious of their news coverage. As a follow-up, I asked if they thought that was the case at the Journal Star — did the fact that they give an editorial viewpoint hurt their credibility, in the TV and radio panelists’ view. Answer: yes.

Jonathan Ahl from WCBU-FM stated that it also limits their ability to do their jobs. He told of how he had sat next to four successive Journal Star reporters at City Hall over the years and had witnessed all of them get shunned by mayors and council members — not because of their reporting, but because of the newspaper’s editorial positions. In the end, he said, it’s the reader who gets short-changed. He said he wasn’t willing to limit his ability to get a story by including editorials on the station. He would rather present the information as fair and balanced as possible and let the listeners form their own opinions.

Jody Davis, news director of WMBD-TV, gave examples of how ratings dipped on Sinclair Broadcasting-owned channels when they used to carry right-wing editorial comments from Sinclair officials. Even the bosses at Sinclair recognized the trend and quietly discontinued the editorials. Thus, broadcasters see a lot of potential for editorials to hurt ratings, and little if any value in them.

The morning ended on a somewhat depressing note for me, as I hung around after the meeting and heard about how low morale is at the Journal Star now that Gatehouse has taken over. Many seasoned reporters have left, benefits have been cut, and staff positions are going unfilled. Basically, the newsroom is being slashed through attrition. Jenni Davis moved from the City Hall beat to Lifestyles editor, and they’re not hiring anyone to fill her position. Instead, they’re going to replace her with one of the business reporters. Now there will be two instead of three business reporters; one more position eliminated.

Gatehouse is cutting costs on little things, too. They won’t buy antibacterial liquid soap for the bathrooms anymore, nor will they buy Post-It Notes. That kind of nitpicking at the budget is the sign of a company in serious financial trouble. They’ve overextended themselves by buying so many newspapers, and now they’re trying to cover the cost of their debt any way they can, from cutting staff to business supplies. There is no joy at the paper right now. And that’s sad.