Critters^TM Workshop

Hello, Corruption, My Old Friend

How Craigslist is Killing Democracy

Related Say No to the Feeconomy The Cure for Bad Customer Service

Many people tout the power of crowdsourcing, Craigslist, Google, and suchlike to replace the role of the newspaper. I have confidence these can supplant almost all aspects of the local newspaper — EXCEPT for one highly critical function, and possibly their most important single function: Local investigative journalism.

The common thinking runs much like this quote, "We don't need reporters, when we can get the news directly from the source." (Comment#86) Alas, I don't have that much faith in governments / corporations / criminals / etc. to give me news about their wrongdoings.

The "watchdog" role is one of the key elements of the press. It's critical to a healthy democracy and open society. Yet investigative journalism requires a lot of time & effort. Amateur, part time blogging doesn't cut it here. "How HBO And Gawker Tricked Us Into Reporting An Ad Campaign As News" is a pathetic example of the quality of journalism you get from this system. When "check your facts" means, basically, "ask the people who told you in the first place," (which is what these allegedly "professional" bloggers in this instance did, googling and clicking on the links that were essentially provided to them by those who alerted them) — then lord help us with real watch-dog roles. This poor methodology is bad enough when it's just an ad campaign masquerading as real news, but consider how this "in-depth" journalism works when applied to keeping democracy open: "The governor told me he wasn't taking bribes, and he isn't, because I verified it by clicking on the governor's web site!"... Um, right.

The problem, unfortunately, is that investigating wrongdoing doesn't seem to be something people will pay for in and of itself. The watchdog aspect of journalism has traditionally been subsidized by newspapers — paying full time salaries to reporters who write other kinds of articles, all paid for via advertising revenues, in a nutshell. Newspapers have often had budgets specifically for court challenges — but as The New York Times notes Shrinking Newsrooms Wage Fewer Battles for Public Access to Courtrooms." We all know those budgets are withering, not to mention the newspapers themselves. TV news is facing a similar problem. We aren't willing to pay for it, yet this role is essential.

The large size of media companies also affords a certain degree of protection against retribution from those being investigated. It's harder to pressure the NYTimes Company to squelch a story than it is to pressure Pat Microblogger.

This is even more true at the local level. While, as the New York Times notes in the article above, "the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups have taken the leading role in trying to shake loose information about the Bush administration's policies and actions," who will fill this role at the state, county, city and town level? The ACLU doesn't have the funding to investigate allegations of bribes taken by your city councillors or the allegations of tainted milk from the local dairy you're buying at the grocery store for your kids to drink. Without the media who is there even to hear the allegations, let alone check them out? Government is notoriously bad at being its own watchdog, and almost as bad at overseeing others. Government watchdogs often only bark when the media is hounding them.

Sadly, a bunch of amateurs twittering won't have the time, money, diligence, and cojones to uncover corruption and keep shedding light on our democratic, capitalistic, and other institutions. It's a function we absolutely need, and history has already shown we aren't willing to pay for specifically. I'm curious to see if there's some new model that can replace this critical function of the "free press."

For our sake, I sure hope there is.

— Andrew Burt

---

Okay, let's open up the phone lines — Realistically, how are we going to replace the local investigative journalism aspect of dying newspapers? Add your comments here:

[ 15 comments | Add a comment ] 403 Forbidden Start now -- Spread the word:

DONATIONS $ [via ►PayPal or: Square]   Happy minion — last donation was recent. A big Thank You! to Lin Faloon, Philip Lindeman, Morgan Sowell, and lots of other Critterfolk for their contributions! Critters is entirely funded by donations from Critterfolk like you, so yours is most appreciated. Click here to make the minions happy. Every dollar helps. Thanks for your support! COOL BOOK WHERE TO? Manuscripts / Submissions        (Forgot yer login/password?) Submit Member Woohoo!s Member Bios Discussion Forums Black Holes response times Sitemap The Site The Web (Critters gets a pittance of support via advertising; Critters does not endorse any advertiser nor have control over ad content.) SHARE THIS PAGE Follow critters on twitter LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO READ? (Or want to collect money for other people reading your stories?) Check out Aburt's ReAnimus Press. CRITTERS DIPLOMACY Fundamental to Critters' success is how people deliver criticisms. Start by reading Critiquing the Wild Writer: It's Not What You Say, But How You Say It. and The Diplomatic Critiquer. NOVELS Critters has a special program to get whole novels critiqued. Read about it here. HOW TO SUBMIT Please follow these guidelines for formatting and submitting manuscripts to Critters. WHAT'S IN THE QUEUE Critters keeps a queue of manuscripts out or to be sent. See the Queue. WEEKLY MPC AWARD Want to jump to the head of the Critters queue? The Most Productive Critter or MPC is Awarded weekly to encourage mo' better critting. How to win... AVOID SCAMS General Guidelines & Tips on Avoiding Publishing Scams FAQ Critters has an extensive FAQ to answer your every question. CHECK OUT ABURT'S OTHER PROJECTS Visit the Critter Captain on Facebook: Andrew Burt

Free Ad for a Fellow Workshop Member:

Copyright © Andrew Burt | Design by inklight Using: Free CSS Templates | Privacy Policy | Contact