Scott Stedman - Real News: An Investigative Reporter Uncovers the Foundations of the Trump-Russia Conspiracy

Copyright 2019 by Scott Stedman

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-5107-4678-7

eBook: 978-1-5107-4679-4

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Front cover photographs: AP Images

Printed in the United States of America

To Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguyev and Orkhan Dzhemal, your work exposing the dirty dealings of Vladimir Putins Russia took you to the middle of Africa; your dedication to the truth took you to your graves.

Your pursuit of justice and integrity lives on in the young investigative journalists whom you inspired.

Table of Contents

Preface: Journalism that Combats Cries of Fake News

F ACTS MATTER.

At a time in history in which those who hold the most powerful positions in the world seek to obfuscate by denying basic fact, it is imperative that the general public is overwhelmed with fact, truth, and empirical evidence.

The cries of fake news! cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.

The press is not the enemy of the people. The Fourth Estate is one of the shining indicators of the thriving democracy that America has loudly and proudly put on a pedestal for decades. It has exposed war crimes, detailed racism and injustice in the South, and brought down sitting presidents. There is nothing that good investigative journalism cannot do when it seeks to speak truth to power to hold it accountable, and doesnt stray from that mission.

In the era of journalists being body slammed, mocked, and ridiculed as fake news, we must return to the basics of journalism: Fact. Proof. Empirical evidence.

It is all too easy for those who dislike negative media coverage to attack the reporting itself when journalists fail to hold themselves to the highest standard possible. To combat these desperate cries of fake news, journalists should not get offended, but rather return to the core of what a free press is supposed to do in this country and elsewhere: report the facts.

However, at the risk of sounding like an overzealous newcomer whos in over his head, I believe there must be fundamental changes in the way that investigative journalists go about their business. There is a growing segment of the population, especially among young adults, who finds themselves with a severe lack of trust in the news media. For those whose formative years were spent with the news coming largely from the internet and social media, there is a feeling of discouragement and apathy when it comes to politics and social issues. This discouragement is rooted in a lack of trust in any authoritative figure, in the media or elsewhere, to report facts without bias.

On TV, sex, drugs, drama, and violence are king. Major news channels largely fill their airtime with panels consisting of impassioned, partisan Democrats arguing with impassioned, partisan Republicans. Everyone involved in this setting is desperately seeking the ten-second gotcha sound clip that they can then share on Twitter in the hopes of feeding their crowdsourced hunger for affirmation. Theres only one person in this scenario who is left entirely worse off: the American citizen.

The way that news is reported is broken. This feels taboo to say in light of some of the hate directed towards journalists at the behest of the most powerful people in the country, but there is a problem at the core of news reporting that needs to be addressed.

At the core of the problem lies a wave of opinion and speculation creeping into news reporting. A common tactic among those who consistently try to delegitimize the press is to conflate the editorial section of a publication with the news articles. Too often now, these sections are becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish.

From my perspective, I see three foundational changes that must be made by journalists to salvage the trust of the American people and fill the void left by figures from an earlier generation such as Walter Cronkite:

First, the hyperpartisanship in media for the sake of being entertaining has to be reined in.

Second, print journalists should return to the basics of journalism by showing, not telling, and relying less on anonymous sources.

Finally, independent journalism must be recognized as an essential section of the media as a whole, so long as it doesnt devolve into conspiracy theories and wild speculation.

Me vs. You Media

What largely exists today is a me vs. you media that survives and thrives off of making those with whom you disagree into your enemies. Evening TV broadcasts on cable networks are the main purveyors of this ideology, as they profit when politics and news is transformed into entertainment.

I like to think of the normal blue-collar American worker who comes home from a hard day at work and turns on the news to see what has gone on in the world. What he or she finds on TV, however, is anything but the news. Its likely some Democrat yelling at a group of Republicans or vice-versa, with personal insults flying and a painful dearth of truth.

This attitude can also be widely found on social media, which has increasingly become infected with purposeful disinformation by foreign countries, bots, and trolls. These actors have no interest in sharing fact-based reporting, but rather feed off of the chaos and discord that comes from a hyperpartisan American population.

There is certainly a place for partisanship in the United States, though not in the world of investigative journalism. Disagreeing over politics and even slinging some mud is as American as apple pie. When there is no separation between these debates and fact-finding investigations, however, is when we as a population suffer the consequences.

In a similar vein, the me vs. you media is creating a dangerous echo chamber on both sides of the political spectrum. Studies have shown that people are becoming increasingly partisan and seeking out voices that affirm their political point of view. Social media is a culprit in this shift in approach from Americans, but not the only factor. Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and other platforms have certainly made it easier to follow, like, or subscribe to those who tell you what you want to hear. Its the path of least resistance. TV news profits by making politics as divided as possible, turning the discussion of political and social issues into a sport, putting profit over people.

In these uncertain and divisive times, a quote from the recent Dan Rather book,