Backgrounder: David Mindich

By Iliza Bershad

David T.Z. Mindich. Photo: Barbara Richmond.

"Without you, we wouldn't have democracy." David T.Z. Mindich began his speech at the Vermont Press Association's Annual Meeting in September, 2004, with these words. The speech focused on his new book, Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Follow the News (2004), which examines the growing apathy about news among young people. Inspired by the unimpressive results of a current events quiz he administered to one of his college classes, Mindich offers an analysis of and solutions to the "dire situation" he believes such apathy breeds.

A former CNN assignment editor and current chair of the Journalism and Mass Communications department at Saint Michael's College, a Catholic liberal arts college near Burlington, Vermont, Mindich took a sabbatical in 2001-2002 to explore this phenomenon. He found that few adults under 40 could identify United State Attorney General, John Ashcroft, former Senate minority leader,Tom Daschle, or more than three Supreme Court judges; yet almost all of them could recognize R&B singer, Alicia Keyes, and NBA star, Allen Iverson.

Mindich determined that this lack of interest in hard news, such as reportage on politics and international relations, is in part the product of an increasingly entertainment-obsessed culture. For example, with so many TV channels, news programming is only one of many options available to a channel-surfer. And, as one Brandeis student explained, lighter-hearted programming is more appealing because it fosters "emotional investment" and rewards the viewer with "instant gratification."

Mindich's research also revealed that media outlets, such as CBS and ABC, cater to their older viewers (average age: 60) instead of reaching out to younger people. He believes the Internet, too, can be "a great source of news for some, but for most it is a great way of avoiding the news." Mindich found that only 11% of young people use the Internet as a primary news source. In his speech to the VPA, he invited people to walk through a busy college computer lab. Many more students would be reading e-mail and talking to friends online, he assured his listeners, than would be searching hard-news sites.

"The purpose of journalism is to make sure we don't get screwed."

His breadth of journalism knowledge and experience helps Mindich as he wrestles with these alarming statistics. He received his masters in American Civilization from Brandeis University and his Ph.D. in American Studies from New York University. He is the founder and editor of J-history, an award-winning listserv dedicated to the discussion of journalism history. In 2002, Mindich received the Krieghbaum Under-40 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

In October, the Washington Post Book Review said that Tuned Out "persuasively diagnoses a serious problem." Now, Mindich is searching for the best and most feasible solution to this growing indifference. He suggests that Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and Fox News are so popular because the reporters seem passionate about what they're discussing. Mindich's first book, Just the Facts: How "Objectivity" Came to Define American Journalism (1998), discusses the longstanding conventions of "objectivity" in journalism, and reaches into history to determine how such a staple of modern reporting first emerged. Mindich still believes that journalist should strive for objectivity, but that they must convey their passion for their subject to appeal to viewers, especially young ones.

Mindich also feels that young people should take a civic SAT (C-SAT) as part of the universally used college admissions test, an exam that would gauge a student's knowledge of general political topics. Such a test would require that young people cultivate a knowledge of the news and actively engage in current events in the same way that the National Honors Society involves them in community service.

"The purpose of journalism is to make sure we don't get screwed." Mindich shared this, his favorite quote about journalism by an unnamed journalist, with his VPA audience. He explained that an informed public can force politicians to explain their positions fully instead of skirting issues, and it is only informed citizens who can play an active part in the democratic process. "Students who don't pay attention to politics cede their political power to their elders and their more-involved peers," he said in an article for The Chronicle of Higher Education called "Dude, Where's Your Newspaper?" "And without political power, they are screwed."

Mindich's book coincides with this year's much-anticipated presidential election, in which the 18-24 vote was vigorously courted and widely presumed to be an important constiuency. In 1972, this age-group turned out in force: half of them went to the polls to reelect President Richard Nixon. However, in August, Mindich told an Albany Herald reporter that "if things get bad enough then people will pay attention and tune in more. But, barring a draft and barring other measures...I don't have much reason for optimism." Mindich feels that only dismal circumstances can encourage young people out of their messy relationship with the news. Sure enough, only 17% of all 18-24 year olds voted in the 2004 election, no more than in 2000.

How "dire" must things get before young people pick up a newspaper and, suitably informed, go to the polls? What will it take for the evening news to become just as important as tonight's episode of Friends? Mindich poses these questions, yet remains hopeful. "We have these amazingly thoughtful and intelligent young people," he said, "and all they need is that little push to get them interested in the news."

SOURCES

• Byrne, Richard. "How the broadcast news organizations—and their viewers—went astray." Washington Post. 10 Oct. 2004.
• I Want Media. "David T.Z. Mindich: It's Now Possible to Spend Your Life Consuming Lots of Entertainment with No News at All." Media People Original Interviews. www.iwantmedia.com/people/people41.html (16 Sept. 2004).
• "Interview with Sara Huberty, David Mindich." CNN Transcripts, CNN Saturday Morning News. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/08/smn.14.html (8 Dec. 2001).
• Lord, Joanna. "St. Michael's Professor Accepts Journalism Award." The Echo. http://journalism.smcvt.edu/echo/9.18.02/mindich.htm (18 Sept. 2002).
• Mindich, David T.Z. "Dude, Where's Your Newspaper?" The Chronicle of Higher Education Review. http://academics.smcvt.edu/dmindich/Dude%20Where’s%20your%20newspaper.htm (8 Oct. 2004).
• Mindich, David T.Z. Just the Facts: How "Objectivity" Came to Define American Journalism. New York University Press. New York, NY; 1998.
• Mindich, David T.Z. Keynote Address. Vermont Press Association Annual Meeting. 16 Sept. 2004.
• Mindich, David T.Z. Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don't Vote. Oxford University Press. New York, NY; 2005.

RELATED LINKS

David Mindich's website, http://academics.smcvt.edu/dmindich/, has links to Jhistory, some of his best articles, his C.V. and St. Michael's Journalism Website. It also has a review of Just the Facts and links to reviews on Tuned Out, Mindich's interviews and speeches about the book.