NEW YORK, March 29, 2004 -- "There's no systemic bias in the media," says Andrew Heyward. As CBS News President, he's thought a lot about the issue -- especially since his former friend and colleague Bernie Goldberg wrote a best seller, based in part on their confidential conversations, accusing CBS of precisely that. "Bias isn't the problem."

So what is? "First, opinion has begun to drive out fact-based reporting -- especially on cable television," notes Heyward. (Full disclosure: I once worked for him as a CBS News producer.) "Issues are presented in dramatically polarized terms, meant to incite. Second, television never did nuance well in the first place -- and nuance is also being driven out."

Take the Fox News Channel: is it "fair and balanced" as its head, Roger Ailes, claims? "The question is almost irrelevant," says Heyward. "During the day they do a solid job of covering the news. At night they're more like talk radio, which no one claims is news."

That very genre-bending -- 24 hour cable 'fact-based opinion' meeting talk radio; "reality" programs combining documentary and game shows techniques; ripped-from-the-headlines dramas like Law and Order and 'news' magazines like Heyward's own "48 Hours Investigates" -- leads to a "blurring of journalistic lines and a lessening of standards," says Heyward. Throw in late night comedy commentators like Jon Stewart and the commodification of news on the Internet -- and the result is a nightly blur for audiences as well.

With facts, reporting and nuance on the way out, what's left? What effect are these trends having on CBS News, the vast fact-gathering operation Heyward has run for eight years? "It's only made me more determined not to take the low road," he says. "We need to focus on what makes us different -- our credibility and the fact that we have no agenda."

Heyward, a CBS lifer who came up through the ranks, believes that "the days when a network like ours can be all things to all people are long over." Instead, in an increasingly fragmented media environment, he faces a clear choice: Facts or opinion? High or low road? "We would traffic in rumor and gossip at our peril. Ultimately, CBS stands for something," he says. "But it wouldn't take long to wreck our reputation, and if we did so -- shame on us!"

In the future, the burden will be on the audience, according to Heyward. "The consumer's share of responsibility will be greater than ever," he says. "People need to realize that commercial pressures make it ever more difficult to pay for good journalism. They need to recognize media that are attempting to do high-integrity, high-responsibility journalism, without fear or favor. They need to support and seek it out, in an environment where there are ever more news sources, and ever more opinion juxtaposed with news.

"The alternative is the creation of a tiny information elite," says Heyward. "Only they will have the knowledge and ability to access news and information." Such a development could be disastrous for our democracy, he says, since it is based on an informed citizenry.

"Quality is our gimmick," Heyward concludes. Then, ever cautious, ever politic -- qualities that have made him the second-longest serving president of CBS News -- he hastens to make clear that he's (at least) half-joking.

-- Rory O'Connor of MediaChannel.org writes a weekly column on the media for AM New York. Read other columns by O'Connor.

© MediaChannel.org, 2004. All rights reserved.

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