2020 and Why I Miss Real Journalism
Guys. Did you see Kamala Harris ordered chicken and waffles at a restaurant known for having good chicken and waffles? Kirsten Gillibrand asked if she was supposed to eat fried chicken….with her fingers. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Julian Castro also eat things. It snowed when Amy Klobechar made her announcement in Minnesota in the winter. Corey Booker isn’t married.
I’ve heard the term “silly season” used in politics many times, but we’re past the seasonal variety. It’s traditional that candidates have to take part in local traditions while traveling to campaign. Staffers rush to let the candidate know how they’re supposed to order their local delight, but every so often, a major faux pax happens. Barack Obama ordered something somewhere with dijon mustard. Hillary Clinton really likes hot sauce, but we’re not sure if she’s just pandering to black people or pepper farmers. We’ve crossed a line here.
At a time when college grads are burdened with mountains of student debt, it’s nice to know that their money was well spent pointing out obvious weather patterns and being hypercritical of mustard preferences.
I’m definitely embracing my “Elder Milllenial” status here, but journalism has long suffered during my lifetime, and social media has straight up obliterated what was left of it. 24 hour cable news isn’t helping, and really, started the dumpster fire while the Twitter bird was still hatching. Columns and articles run on reputable news sites and papers wouldn’t have passed muster on my high school newspaper.
There has been some recent consternation (shout out, Ezra Klein!) about the role of journalists, but largely, any conversation turns into a circular firing squad, and no one changes or rises above the nonsense to set an example.
What am I bitching about? Oh, a lot of things, but here are the biggest offenders:
Writing entire articles consisting of a tweet, and the subsequent replies to that tweet with absolutely no other analysis of the implications of that tweet. Bonus points if the tweet didn’t have any actual implications for anything.
Headlines that don’t accurately describe the article’s content, especially those including words like “slammed,” “eviscerated,” “owned,” “annihilated,” or other words that implicate extreme violence, especially when we’re talking about a Twitter conversation or cable news segment.
Reporting what another reporter reported without actually doing any reporting. Not everyone can cover everything, so stop trying. Let NBC have that story, and CBS can break something else. Unless this is a story that everyone needs to know immediately (9/11, getting Bin Laden, Florida just sank into the ocean), all you’re doing is ensuring stories are being missed because everyone is reading the same breaking headline and tweeting the same article.
Shitty “Trump voter” pieces that feature someone who is a self-proclaimed white nationalist, has voted for the Republican in the last 5+ elections, or watches nothing but Fox News. We aren’t learning a damn thing from these people, and they’re the reason we’re still rehashing 2016 and the “are all Trump voters racist?” trope.
Treating everything from the White House/POTUS as legitimate news because it came from POTUS or the White House. He called someone crazy or weak on Twitter again? He misspelled something? Neat.
Focusing on the drama and controversy, or even worse, creating controversy over something completely inane. Was Hillary pandering with her hot sauce? Who the fuck cares? Maybe she just likes spicy food. Maybe she’s pandering and can no longer feel her tongue. Does it impact her ability to handle natural disaster response, foreign policy, or health care policy? No. Leave it alone.
What all of these things have in common is they’re just clickbait. CNN has too much damn time on their hands, so they pull a panel of people no one has ever heard of to yell about the merits of the Obamas getting a certain dog, you can’t understand half of what’s being said, and the segment is too short to have a complete discussion in the first place.
Journalists, this is my call to you. Before turning in a piece, ask yourself “will this matter in a week?” If it won’t, at least ask “will this impact lives or policy?” Don’t fall into the trap of reporting about Trump’s 4 am toilet tweets. Most aren’t newsworthy if tweeted by anyone else. It’s fine to reference Twitter rants when writing about if the President of the United States is obstructing justice. The world does not need another story about him calling Elizabeth Warren “Pocahantas.” Again.
Newspaper editors, content managers, and those who make decisions, I beg you, worry about integrity and not ratings. TV channels aired hours of empty podiums at Trump rallies in 2016, instead of ongoing speeches at Clinton, Sanders, Bush, Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich rallies…and then everyone wondered how he got elected. Reporters were asking Bernie Sanders if he’d endorse Hillary Clinton when he lost, long before he had lost. It’s irresponsible. It’s biased. And you’re doing it again with Howard Schultz. He’s gobbling up free airtime and column inches while he flirts with running/holds the Democrats hostage with threats of running, and rather than interview candidates who have announced their candidacy and put time and thought into their policy positions and priorities, you’re putting forward this schmuck who hasn’t got an idea in his head outside of how to get people to pay $6 for a coffee milkshake. When asked policy specifics, he routinely answers with Trumpian answers. “I’ll get the best people in the room.” Great. That’s a meeting, not a policy. If you insist on showering this guy with attention, ask him a damn follow up question.
Average people on social media who are consuming news, you matter here, too. If a paper or station isn’t reporting anything on their own, don’t give them your clicks. If a headline says Rachel Maddow eviscerated someone, that’s probably not literal and don’t give them the clicks. Tweet and comment your complaints if a piece doesn’t match the headline. Stop watching cable news on mute in your office if they aren’t giving you actual news. HGTV and Food Network are excellent sources of amusement when you’re supposed to be working, and they do more to earn your viewing and their ratings than pundits spitting talking points.
Average people, journalists, and literally everyone: I love a sick burn as much as anyone. I am guilty of losing my temper on the internet. I am making an effort (I’m not perfect) to be better. If you disagree with someone, you can say it, but don’t get personal. If you go back and forth for awhile and neither of you is budging, acknowledge that you disagree and move on. There has been much said about “civility” lately, and here are my thoughts in a nutshell: If you are merely disagreeing about how to solve a problem like healthcare access or the deficit, civility is more productive. If someone is being blatantly racist, sexist, or homophobic, my civility standards drop pretty low, but don’t threaten or stoop to their level. Don’t feed the trolls. Don’t be a hammer in search of a nail. If you’re being hypersensitive or calling people Nazis because they think there’s a place for private health insurers, you’re not helping your cause, and to be frank, some of the best “sick burns” on Twitter are coming from Chelsea Clinton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They respond with facts, class, and just enough snark to make people look stupid to anyone who isn’t stupid.
Before the 2020 campaigns are fully announced, and while we’re still early in the race, let’s start holding ourselves to a higher standard so we get a better group of leaders. You don’t have to hate the other candidates because you like one more. Don’t fight. There’s too much at stake. Point out what you love about your candidate of choice, and if you have valid concerns about another candidate, you can say so, but saying someone is ignorant for liking Kamala Harris, not a real Democrat for being a Bernie Sanders supporter, or a corporate shill if they like Corey Booker does no good. There is a lot at stake right now.
This is my plea. Let’s do better.
