In my time as a journalist, I have probably endured more city council meetings than I can count. Not only city council meetings, but planning and zoning meetings, public complaint sessions, and press conferences, all of which have one thing in common: most Americans have no clue what is happening in these meetings or even care what happens in these meetings.
Yet, as members of the free press, and public servants to our communities, we press on and write multiple articles every single day that largely go unread. Unlike many people on social media tend to believe, the “mainstream media” does not ignore events. In fact, I could almost guarantee that every single day there are journalists across this country attending bake sales, elementary school events, and ribbon cutting ceremonies. Likewise, there are journalists on the scene at traffic accidents, when homes go up in flames, and at robberies. Then there are journalists like me, who scheduled his weeknights around the meetings that almost always dragged on. I do not mention this to make anyone feel bad for journalists. It can be a thankless job, but I have never met a journalist who went into the industry with the hopes to have “perks” or attention. Journalists do this job because they want to document a rough draft of history and be a voice for the voiceless. That is why it is so disheartening to talk to journalists over the last five years as they have been worn down, exhausted, and vilified by the world events and more frankly the misinformation campaign by the Trump administration. Better journalists than I persevered during this period, but I took a step back. It would be easy to blame Trump for this tumultuous time. It would be easy to blame Youtube conspiracists like InfoWars or Qanaon, mostly because these groups played a large part in “the big lie” as it is now being called. However, stopping the conversation here would not do anything to help our country move forward. Now, it is time for the media to take responsibility too. THE STATE OF THE MEDIA I mention my time covering city council meetings because I tended to see the same things repeatedly. First, there would be citizens showing up because they are angry. The angrier these people were, the less they were willing to observe the average protocol at these meetings. Next, there would be politicians who did not want to be there. See, the angrier the people who showed up got, the less likely it was for the elected officials to want to hear them. Finally, I would take notes during the entire meeting, write up my story within the hour and go to bed by midnight. The next day I would typically have council members upset about what I wrote, and I would have citizens upset about what I wrote. The one thing that these two could bond on is that “The media didn’t treat them fairly.” Sure, typically it was one or the other depending on how balanced I was able to use the quotes or not, but all of these individuals failed to see the reason that the press was at the meeting was to inform the people who were not there. Likewise, that is the point of the media on a bigger scale when it comes to national politics. Many believe that the media “isn’t covering” something because they heard these rumors on the dark web. This has sowed distrust in the media, and to save our institution, we must do better. We must have more transparency. This is a tough ask considering most people do not get their news from a news source anymore. No one reads a newspaper. They share headlines on Facebook and do not check the source. Many use the word “media” as an umbrella term for anything they read or hear, so journalists in 2021 have a battle to prove that they are fair and balanced. While daily press briefings and the correspondent’s dinner will be returning with President Joseph Biden to the White House, the distrust in the media and politicians is already there. “The liberal media” is what conservatives and nonpartisans call the press. The divide only gets stronger as conservatives drop Facebook for Parler, Fox News for 4chan, and Democracy for nationalism, the road to recovery will be hard, but not impossible. Journalists must separate themselves from advertisers. We must stop believing that 24-hour news channels are “news.” We must rebuild the reputation of the media so confusing journalists with Youtubers would be ludicrous. To do this, we have to stick to the facts. We must be critical of the new administration. We have to stop the sensational spin on the news. It is imperative that we return to normal, a normal that existed when the leadership in America wasn’t a showman. As people have turned away from the news for “alternative facts” and baseless claims, it is more important than ever that access to the truth, access to fair and unbiased news, and access to multiple sources is re-established. January 20 is the start of a new day, a new year, and a new era of America. If we continue down the path that we’ve been heading since 2015, the press will consume itself before it even realizes the damage it has caused. The free press must go on.
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Erick L. Graham Wood
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