Barbara Mezeske: Democracy dies in darkness
It’s a tough time to be a journalist here in America, and right here in Holland, Michigan.
The field is changing rapidly. Once, there were two career tracks for potential journalists: print or television. Today, the range is far greater due to digital media. A wannabe journalist today might start a podcast, blog, or YouTube channel. Or she might try to build a following on Instagram or TikTok.
Gone are the days of a reliable, long-term relationship with an employer. The new generation of journalists tend to be freelancers, and freelancers forgo the benefits of a steady paycheck, company insurance, or editorial oversight. It’s a tough field to break into. It’s a field replete with temptation to write what sells, rather than to chase down a difficult story.
You can see the same trend toward commercialization of news on your television. In a half hour broadcast, we can expect to see five minutes of actual news; another five minutes of weather; five minutes of human-interest stories featuring animals, children or holiday preparation; and finally, seven minutes of sports, leaving plenty of room for advertising.
When news becomes a commercial product, it’s easy to see how pursuing in-depth stories, providing objectivity and reporting on nuanced issues are relegated to the back burner.
The American Constitution enshrines freedom of the press in the Bill of Rights, because factual, honest reporting is a bulwark of democracy. But what does that mean in a world where the production and dissemination of news looks completely different than it did in the 18th century?
Our local paper, The Holland Sentinel, was founded in 1896. It was acquired by GateHouse media in 2007. In 2019, GateHouse merged with Gannett to become the largest newspaper chain in the country. Gannett is the publisher of USA TODAY, the ubiquitous national newspaper you find in every hotel, everywhere in the country, serving up a quick digest of lightweight news geared toward a generic “everybody.” The company is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, and posts annual revenue in excess of $3 billion a year.
That Gannett owns The Holland Sentinel explains a few things. The paper no longer publishes on Monday, but if you log onto the site on Mondays, you will find USA TODAY content. The Tuesday through Sunday editions also contain lots of USA TODAY stories. Gannett’s revenue has declined over the past year. That explains the cost-cutting that has reduced staff, imposed mandatory unpaid furloughs, trimmed benefits, eliminated pay raises, and frozen hiring — here in Holland and elsewhere.
The job of a journalist is to report, write, think critically and serve his audience. Local news matters to local people, and tracking down local content is very hard without a local paper.
Consider these recent stories, which don’t have much interest nationally, but matter a great deal here in Ottawa County:
The local League of Women Voters forums on elections, including which candidates appeared and which ones stayed away
Local efforts to create affordable housing in the city limits and the debate that causes
The redevelopment of the James DeYoung power plant property
The emergence a political action group like Ottawa Impact and its effect on county government and school boards.
Yes, one could learn about these things by doing the digging, tracking down websites, and talking to people to find the facts and understand them. But we have relied on independent journalists to do that sort of work for us for all of our lives.
In reading about newspapers for this column, I came upon an interesting fact: Since the pandemic, Gannett has sold at least 20 local newspapers back into local hands.
Now I know what I want for Christmas.
Dear Santa,
Please bring our community a wealthy philanthropist, or a consortium of such people, who see the value of locally controlled journalism. Make sure they understand the critical role journalism plays in democracy: demanding transparency from government bodies, reporting objectively on our community, and investing time to pursue complex stories. Let this person or group believe that journalists deserve good pay and benefits, and the assurance that they can build a career in this community. Let them see that the civic value of a locally owned, locally staffed, and locally thriving daily newspaper outweighs commercial profit. Ensure that The Holland Sentinel continues to serve us, and to do so with integrity and honesty.
— Community Columnist Barbara Mezeske is a retired teacher and resident of Park Township. She can be reached at bamezeske@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Barbara Mezeske: Democracy dies in darkness
