Erin Zimmer/The Hoya Former Alumni Association President Paul Anthony (B ’64) moderated a panel on the state of journalism in Copley Formal Lounge.

The proliferation of cable outlets and their shallow news coverage have undermined American journalism, Newsweek columnist Eleanor Clift said at a panel on the current state of the media on Wednesday.

Cal Thomas, panelist on the Fox News Watch media critique program, and Diane Owen, associate professor of political science at Georgetown, joined Clift on the panel discussion in Copley Formal Lounge. Paul Anthony, a member of the library board, moderated the panel, “Is There a Crisis in Journalism?”

“Every period [in journalism] is a crisis; every period had a problem,” Clift said. “[The problem now] is excess democracy, there are too many of us and too few rules. But the cure is more democracy, not less democracy.”

Clift said people need to be educated in order “to be discerning and find [their] way through the media maze.”

Owen called the period “a transition” rather than a “crisis.” She said the public is “thriving on softer news and sensational journalism.”

She said there are advantages and disadvantages to this phenomenon. The advantage is that there are “more witnesses of what’s going on,” and if somebody is looking for “more information, context about an issue or an event, it is there to be found.”

At the same time, Owen said, the mainstream journalists are using this channel to gather information and that verifying this information can prove very difficult.

Owen said the verification problem applies not only to journalists but also to viewers, as it is very difficult for them to distinguish “legitimate news from rumor and speculation.”

Howard Dean’s election campaign, she added, illustrated the inability of the Internet to translate onto mainstream media outlets such as television and journalism.

“[They] need television and print media to carry [the campaign] forward.”

Thomas agreed. “The media made Howard Dean, and took him down.”

He added that the outlets are not giving enough information about the election candidates, instead offering short, eight-second sound bites from candidates’ speeches, and the viewers “are not getting even the appetizer.”

Clift said John Kerry wants to look at all sides of an issue and it is harder for the more complicated “Kerry approach to get through.”

The problem, Owen said, is that journalists begin to speak for the candidates rather than letting the candidates speak for themselves.

Industry standards have declined, Thomas said, noting that when he started to work as a newsroom “copy boy,” the qualifications required were much higher than they are today.

The news industry has become increasingly profit-driven, as opposed to being news-driven, he continued.

Owen decried the lack of investigative journalism, adding that the news divisions are instead choosing to base their stories on “rumors and things that don’t involve going to the field and collecting information.”

Thomas recalled the survey done by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, where viewers said they thought that journalists were “sloppier, more biased” and “more harmful” to democracy than they were 20 years ago.

“The public knows [which political view] each outlet represents,” Owen said. Cable outlets should instead admit to having a partisan bias rather than claiming to be “fair and balanced,” the slogan for Fox News.

Television news shows occasionally agree to provide a more biased point of view, in order to entice more prominent and well-known guests to their show, Thomas said. This in turn creates a higher rating for the show. Some hosts may even try to serve as a “cheerleader” for their guest, further promoting their political or social views.

Thomas further said a number of former members of Congress work as commentators and hosts now. “None of these people are journalists,” said Thomas. “They are talking points of their parties.”

“We do have choices,” Thomas said. “We don’t have to accept what we’re getting.”

The Georgetown University Library Associates sponsored the panel.