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There are three kinds of newspaper writers: repeaters, reporters and journalists. Repeaters write what they’re told, usually congratulatory comments by public officials about themselves. Reporters ask public officials obvious questions, the kind any reasonable person would ask if it were their money that was at stake. Journalists conduct serious research and write in-depth stories.
The Northwest Herald has repeaters. They write what government officials say, rarely if ever asking penetrating questions. The Herald never runs stories on government budgets, how big they are compared with other governments, how much they’ve increased, whether the public is receiving value for its money. It never questions road projects or building projects or subsidies given to this or that noble cause. Their coverage of candidates for local elections is virtually nonexistent.
The fault lies partly with the journalism curriculum, which focuses almost solely on writing and barely touches on understanding government operations and finances. But the greater fault lies with the Herald’s editors, who fail to educate their staff about government, and who fail to order their staff to write insightful stories about local governments. Their coverage of candidates for local elections is virtually nonexistent.
This is unfortunate because it leaves the public in the dark. The press was once known as the fourth estate, a name that harks back to the French Revolution, and refers to the crucial role of the press in keeping the public informed about the government.
That term is now used only in irony.
Steve Willson