"Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together, an able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself. The power to mold the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations." ~Joseph Pulitzer
Which is located where? On the Western Slope our papers have pretty well died or on life support trying to cover with 1 or 2 staff members and no subscribers. Also point out, that in general, we have had few journalists in the last decades. They are reporters now and jump to the money strings attached. They are as politicized and biased, even corrupt; as the politicians, corporations, and governments they cover.
As the line between fact and opinion blurs, the data that I have available for reference becomes distrusted. "Who's political camp are the so called scientists and experts in your story aligned with?" becomes the consideration of the reader. Alternative realities have taken over areas which used to be objective, and that objective ground crumbles around me as paranoia, confirmation bias, and the speech of oligarchs, politicians, and religious (as well as the fervently non-religious) leaders become the benchmark for discerning truth in anything on a printed page. If anyone believes that I'm talking about one camp or another, it's your own guilty conscience speaking, because I'm not. These are the things that are diluting the substance of the news, and is narrowing what is available to report, without ruffling someone's feathers. What I'm seeing in local news, is a turn toward writing what isn't going to cause cancelled subscriptions, based on accusations of pandering to one side of the aisle or another, and in areas that are thick with a particular doctrine, the result is watery, vague, and disinteresting. Am I the only one feeling journalistically impotent?
If journalists practiced journalism, they wouldn’t be scorned. The few remaining real journalists should hold their peers accountable. We don’t want your opinion when we read the news. Your opinion isn’t news. There are a lot of other issues surrounding this problem, mostly concerning revenue models in the digital age. But generally speaking, Chuck isn’t wrong here.
Newspapers without a government? Nah... I'd take a place with police, legal system, and proper infrastructure over self-aggrandizing propaganda mouthpieces.
I bet you haven't read much in your life. It doesn't matter if a newspaper doesn't cover the local baseball game. It does matter if they don't cover local government, education, law and order, healthcare, judges, politicians, infrastructure, etc. What do you stand to lose? Integrity of politicians, local roads, teachers, lawyers, judges, bureaucrats and civil society itself. And a society without honesty will slowly by surely tear itself apart. You don't heed the cautionary words of your founding fathers, soon you may not have a society. Utterly sad. Not that you care.
"Decided to go rogue" - this surprise Sunday section was awesome!
I really wish people would let him speak for longer than 30 seconds without needing to cheer and clap.
"Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together, an able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself. The power to mold the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations."
~Joseph Pulitzer
Most municipalities have non-profit or journalist-owned papers opening their doors nowadays. For example, Colorado now has the Colorado Sun.
Which is located where? On the Western Slope our papers have pretty well died or on life support trying to cover with 1 or 2 staff members and no subscribers.
Also point out, that in general, we have had few journalists in the last decades. They are reporters now and jump to the money strings attached. They are as politicized and biased, even corrupt; as the politicians, corporations, and governments they cover.
As the line between fact and opinion blurs, the data that I have available for reference becomes distrusted. "Who's political camp are the so called scientists and experts in your story aligned with?" becomes the consideration of the reader. Alternative realities have taken over areas which used to be objective, and that objective ground crumbles around me as paranoia, confirmation bias, and the speech of oligarchs, politicians, and religious (as well as the fervently non-religious) leaders become the benchmark for discerning truth in anything on a printed page. If anyone believes that I'm talking about one camp or another, it's your own guilty conscience speaking, because I'm not. These are the things that are diluting the substance of the news, and is narrowing what is available to report, without ruffling someone's feathers. What I'm seeing in local news, is a turn toward writing what isn't going to cause cancelled subscriptions, based on accusations of pandering to one side of the aisle or another, and in areas that are thick with a particular doctrine, the result is watery, vague, and disinteresting. Am I the only one feeling journalistically impotent?
If journalists practiced journalism, they wouldn’t be scorned. The few remaining real journalists should hold their peers accountable. We don’t want your opinion when we read the news. Your opinion isn’t news. There are a lot of other issues surrounding this problem, mostly concerning revenue models in the digital age. But generally speaking, Chuck isn’t wrong here.
Webblen is the solution
2
First
Newspapers without a government? Nah... I'd take a place with police, legal system, and proper infrastructure over self-aggrandizing propaganda mouthpieces.
I bet you haven't read much in your life. It doesn't matter if a newspaper doesn't cover the local baseball game. It does matter if they don't cover local government, education, law and order, healthcare, judges, politicians, infrastructure, etc. What do you stand to lose? Integrity of politicians, local roads, teachers, lawyers, judges, bureaucrats and civil society itself. And a society without honesty will slowly by surely tear itself apart. You don't heed the cautionary words of your founding fathers, soon you may not have a society. Utterly sad. Not that you care.