We have known since 1791 how important freedom of speech is to our democracy – but like most important things, there are those who will take advantage of these protections to cause harm. Alexander Hamilton was afraid of this when he argued that when it comes to the freedom of the press, “even truth should not be a defense, if said out of bad motives. Someone who uses the weapon of truth wantonly, for the purpose of disturbing the peace of families should be criminally punishable. But Americans must have the liberty of publishing truth, with good motives and for justifiable ends, even though it reflects on government, magistrates, or private persons.” If we lived by Hamilton’s ideology, most media companies today wouldn’t exist.
It is rare that the free media functions as a watchdog with high ethical standards. There are some respectable journalists doing honorable work. John Carryeyrou investigated Theranos while he was working at The Wall Street Journal and exposed Elizabeth Holmes. Evan Ratliff, a journalist at Wired investigated and helped expose the criminal kingpin Paul Leroux. Both of these journalists are embodiments of the positive effects that investigative reporting can have. With so many important issues that need to be discussed, we need a high level of integrity in the press now more than ever. We need to know the truth. We need it delivered fairly and impartially. But it is rare that we get this. It has become way too easy for media companies to disseminate falsehoods with bias. Editors and publishers are emboldened to act recklessly because there is little accountability. It’s not easy to win a case for Libel, and often the costs associated with a lawsuit are prohibitive.
In May 2008, while I was diligently building my company and brand, I was sued by a former agent for $51M in commissions. Mathematically, this meant that I would have sold a property for $4 Billion! Anyone with any common sense would know that this was an absurd allegation and completely unfounded. (The largest sale ever recorded at that time was less than $100M). A local industry news rag decided to publish a story about this lawsuit and tarnish my reputation and brand, even though the facts were baseless and absurd at best. They didn’t care. A story like this was sensational and would garner a lot of readership. Even though this case was thrown out of court, I lost hours of sleep and aged from the experience. I’m certain that if I had one of the large advertisers in their publication, the story would have gone away. You have to pay to play.
Unfortunately, all too often, journalists and editors are an extension of the business model of the media company they work for, and most media companies are in the business of making money – not disseminating the truth. The more salacious the story, the more they sell. The more they sell, the more money they make. Capitalism has cast its shadow over the intent of the First Amendment. Industry rags disguise themselves as news outlets but act like op eds that promote the financial goals of the owner. They pretend to care about truth in journalism, but they care more about their balance sheet.
Ironically, it used to be that we marketers were known as exaggerators and untrusted sources. We are held accountable to the highest level of accuracy with our representations (as we should be). The penalty for representing an inaccurate fact could be devastating. A few years ago, we closed a deal where our buyer was told there would be radiant floor heating in the apartment, and when the walk-through of the apartment revealed no such thing existed, the other agent had to pay a hefty sum of money to correct his error and save his reputation.
Marketing people are sick and tired of this double standard and have had enough. We are at a turning point. We are taking a stand and hitting back where it hurts. The pocketbook. This month, major brands are boycotting Facebook with a #StopHateForProfit campaign. Many of these big brands who are publicly switching off social media aren’t likely to come back until real change is made. I stand with them. If publications don’t stop acting recklessly, they will feel it where it hurts most.