A 3D printed miniature of US President Donald Trump, Russian flag and words "Fake news" are seen in this illustration taken August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
(New York, NY) – Journalism, at its core, is actually a business. And right now, the industry is simply not being run like a business that really cares about its customers. Yes, “the news” has a serious customer service problem.
Most of you are well aware of the problems the traditional media has gotten itself into thanks to its prevailing left wing bias, that’s morphed into more of a cheerleading squad for the Democratic Party devoid of any real ideology. That’s been turning off a large section of the potential news customer base for decades, and that’s been pretty well documented.
But as bad as that partisan leaning is much of the time, an even worse bias dominates all forms of the major news media outlets across the political spectrum. That bias is what I call the “New York producer bubble.”
Whether you’re watching MS NOW or even FOX, the stories covered and promoted are all very much coming from people who live in and around New York and have the perspective on life and the news that’s unique to people living here.
I know this because I had the unique experience of growing up mostly in the South, moving to New York City around high school time, and then leaving after college for several years to other regions of the country, It’s just something you don’t see unless you can see it from the inside, the outside, and then back inside again.
The best example of that New York bubble reared its head on Thursday when two major terrorist incidents unfolded in America at the same time: 1) The deadly attack on a ROTC class being conducted at Old Dominion University in Virginia, and 2) The car-ramming attack and foiled mass shooting incident at the Temple Israel Synagogue in suburban Detroit.
For anyone who understands America and its people, it was clear that both stories were exceedingly important breaking news events. But it was also clear from a cultural and business aspect what should have been story #1 and story #1A.
With the biggest deployment of the U.S. military since the height of Operation Desert Storm, an attack on uniformed troops inside the homeland – one that tragically led to the murder of an officer and happily also resulted in the ROTC students in the class subduing and killing the shooter – was clearly the #1 story with the most importance to most of the nation. It would have also garnered more ratings and clicks than any other story.
I say “would have” because absolutely no major news media outlet led with that story. They all chose the attack on the Michigan Synagogue instead, even though the only fatality was the attacker.
Now before you think I’m falling victim to some kind of unfair bias myself, you should know I’m a yeshiva-educated, traditional, and very proud Jew who absolutely does consider the synagogue attack a huge story. But again, outside of anywhere other than Midtown Manhattan, i was story #1A, not #1.
For the guys and gals who populate New York’s national and local newsrooms, the percentage of them who know or are related to active-duty military is relatively small. The percentage of them who know or live near a synagogue or Jewish folks is exponentially higher.
What does this mean from a business perspective? This New York geographic bias is just another divider between a business and its customers in a relationship that’s been too structurally divided since its creation.
One of the problems traditional media outlets suffered from for decades was the disconnect between them and their audiences. Newspapers, radio stations, and TV channels interacted with and got feedback from their sponsors in a much more detailed way than their actual intended audiences. It became easy to forget what they actually wanted, besides getting a general idea of approval or disapproval from ratings or circulation numbers.
But with the advent of the Internet, none of that is an excuse anymore. We can find out in real time what stories the public likes, wants more of, and why. The excuses for any kind of bubble or bias have disappeared, and yet they’re raging on stronger than ever.
Actually, the Internet and its ability to upload journalism and all other kinds of content from anywhere in America or the world should have made a dent in this New York-centric bias. Instead the opposite has happened; the concentration of professional journalists in the New York area is at an all-time high.
That’s bad for business. What’s hot on Houston Street isn’t always hot in Houston. Ask anyone, and now that I’ve pointed out this geographic bias and its business pitfalls, you probably won’t be able to unsee it.
The question is: will NYC lifers like CBS’s Barri Weiss, or anyone else whose life and professional experience is almost entirely forged on Manhattan Island be able to see it too? Are they capable of fixing it? If this were any other business would this management bias be allowed to continue?
I say the answer is “no,” and until that changes this news media business is going to keep suffering both in the ratings and audience numbers and on the stock market.
– Jake Novak
