Charles Whitaker on public policy
From "How the Digital Revolution Upended Journalism" Charles Whitaker, Hayek Lecture Series · · DukeUniversityDepartmentofPoliticalScience
“The Reagan administration eliminated the Fairness Doctrine, and I think that gets us down the road to the hyper‑partisan media we have today — the rise of partisan broadcast and then digital outlets amplified that shift.”
On , Charles Whitaker, Senior VP, Chief Human Resources Officer & Chief Compliance Officer at Altria Group Inc, spoke about public policy during "How the Digital Revolution Upended Journalism" Charles Whitaker, Hayek Lecture Series on DukeUniversityDepartmentofPoliticalScience.
About Charles Whitaker
On February 17, 2020, Charles Whitaker delivered a lecture titled "Conflict and Crisis: How the Digital Revolution Upended Journalism and Democracy" as part of the Hayek Lecture Series. Whitaker, who described himself as a "recovering magazine editor" rather than a scholar, discussed how the digital revolution democratized content production and dissemination while also enabling echo chambers and partisan media. He attributed the rise of hyper-partisan media in part to the Reagan administration's elimination of the Fairness Doctrine. Whitaker also stated that legacy media was "complicit in its own demise" by resisting digital adaptation and that the loss of local newspapers has harmed democracy by removing the watchdog function of the press. Whitaker noted that about 225 counties in the U.S. have no daily newspaper, meaning no one is chronicling those communities or holding local government accountable. He argued that the media business historically sold access to audiences rather than information, and that digital advertising's lower cost-per-click made the old exposure model unsustainable. Whitaker expressed optimism about the future of journalism, citing Medill's centennial class and the dynamic opportunities available to new journalists.