More tidbits

This post, from Neiman Journalism Lab, makes a case for more public-minded journalism. Well, duh. It describes the horse-race, simplistic two-sided paradigm that characterizes most news stories in America, and calls for at least MORE stories to "move on" from that model. The post argues that objective journalism is somewhat outdated, and the "left-right dance" should be exchanged for a focus on change for the community - better education, health services, blah blah. Okay, sounds like a great idea. But when you're a publicly-minded reporter writing about how to improve health care, what is going to get that story on the front page? Something interesting and credible. Conflict is interesting; people with titles are credible. Remember, you're writing for an audience, one that's inundated with media and you have about three sentences to grab its attention. This means academics who disagree, politicians who disagree, people affected by the issue - who disagree. And we're back to dancing on strings from the left and right, because the story has to be understandable, too. It's a giant systemic problem, not one originating solely from news organizations or reporters or audiences. I, for one, have no idea how to change that paradigm for the mainstream.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NiemanJournalismLab/~3/Bt2urM5uwFM/