Tribune Publishing named a new CEO when it’s current one of three years, Justin Dearborn, resigned. The Company, which publishes The Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, seven other daily newspapers and some periodicals, is attempting to sell the business with no takers so far. It occurred to me that while fewer people are actually purchasing newspapers these days in lieu of social media and other internet and electronic sources of “news”, there may yet be a place for the traditional daily newspaper.
So much information is available today from a myriad of sources that it is impossible to stay current with all the various presentations of facts. So often, “news” is really analysis or outright opinion labeled as news. As a result of this occurring now for many years, there is little faith in mass media and newspapers have become less and less relevant. They have become a conduit for the weekly circulars and not a source for knowing what is happening. Might a company seize on the void of a fact-based publication that actually reports things as they are?
Journalism students these days are a product of left-leaning colleges. They cannot remove the biases of their education and in some cases have embraced the ideology of the left and let it sway their duty as a journalist to be impartial. A paper whose editors do not allow that to occur would find a ready audience of people of all political persuasions. That is, a starting point where facts count and opinion and analysis don’t. I try very hard to form my own opinions by watching actual events in their entirety including any rebuttals. Finding this kind of complete information is doable but takes time and, let’s face it, CSPAN can only capture so much of your attention. I’ve learned that “according to sources” means someone didn’t do their work because they leave the reader guessing who those sources were and what their motivation for remaining anonymous was.
Rather, I would like to see in-depth presentations of exact and complete quotes from those involved. They would include references to actual legislation, rules, policies and, most importantly, data from bonafide and incontrovertible sources; sources that only the closed-minded would ignore. Where there is room for debate, it would be refreshing to see a publication that references these things from both sides, clearly labeled as such. Indeed, there are publications that attempt to provide multiple positions but mostly in opinion pieces with minimal supporting data. It would be refreshing to have a source from which all sides can start their debate because unless we all agree on a starting point, we will never agree on an outcome.
Hey Tribune! Try doing a Joe Friday and just print the facts….ma’am. That might get you a buyer.
Current Day Publius 