The Bell Curve:

The Newport Beach Public Library Foundation scored again last weekend by bringing Lowell Bergman down from his chair as distinguished professor of investigative journalism at UC Berkeley to tell us how our print and broadcasting media have gotten into the mess they now inhabit — and what to expect in their efforts to get out.

Bergman has probably been in your life for many years in various guises — as the director of investigative reporting at ABC News and original producer of “20/20” for that network. By the 14 years he spent as a producer of “60 Minutes” — the most popular news show on the air. By the story of his investigation of the tobacco industry that was turned into a movie called “The Insider” and nominated for an Academy Award. And most recently by his teaching gig while he was forging an alliance between the New York Times and the PBS documentary “Frontline.”

Bergman took us step-by-step through his 40 years in the news business, and he has not arrived in a happy place. In that journey, he cited two major changes — among many — that affected the transmission of news to the American public.

First, the changing of the concept of news gathering and presentation as a public service.

Second, the breaking down of the wall between the editorial and business ends of the media.

“The Federal Communications Commission turned the concept of public interest on its head, to what the public is interested in,” Bergman said. “It became an appliance, like a toaster. That’s what we see today. The reincarnation of the non-news story.”

Bergman built his reputation as always ready to back up strong opinions with actions; especially at CBS, where he dealt for the first time with the business end of the network crossing the editorial line with demands.

“When they got involved, I walked out,” he said. “The wall had been broken.”

Declining advertising revenue and increasing demands for greater profits from lay directors are continuing to cripple news gathering by causing severe reductions in editorial staff and the increasing use of pool reporters.

“Nobody is willing to pay for good reporting any longer,” Bergman said. “So what’s left of quality newscasts? And why should we care? Because first and foremost we get very little foreign news as a result.