What we have learned from DC media and why it has become so frustrating.
I love Washington DC. It is a beautiful place with wonderful people, vibrant politics, and terrific food. It is worth the visit if you ever get the chance. One of the best things about Washington DC is how it is scattered with stories and reporters everywhere, who are not only great storytellers but great human beings in general. This month has no shortage of stories in DC, as Democrats are trying to wrangle with Republicans over raising the debt ceiling, as well as fighting with their own party about how to pass President Biden’s social spending bill and infrastructure bills at the same time.
But even with all that going on and my genuine love for DC AND Journalism, I have to come clean: I'm getting tired of it.
My teacher, Ted Nesi told me that when you are telling a story, you have to be able to do three things: be accurate, be brief, and be clear. The ABCs of journalism.
While DC media has done a great job of A and B, the C part is what makes me scratch my head.
The reality is that many Americans do not pay attention to legislative whatchamacallits, or parliamentarian doo-dads. In fact, many of them don’t pay attention to what's going on in DC at all. Most of them are thinking about their own personal lives and the lives of their local communities. Fair enough, if you live in a small town in Iowa or a big city in California, I doubt you have much input in DC.
And yet……the media influence of DC is inescapable, like a black hole, and it never. goes. away.
In fact, MOST media is centered around the Acela corridor, which refers to the train line between New York and DC. That is just one part of America, and yet it takes up almost ALL of our news stories.
It’s not to say that these stories are bad. Far from it, these reporters like Jake Sherman and Burgess Everett are GREAT at doing what they do best. Covering the House and Senate. At the same time, however, we have to come to terms that not everyone in the country is reading their tweets.
We don't really have a civics program in the United States, so it’s not surprising that many Americans don't really care about or know what the debt ceiling is, or that there is a general lack of a need to change Senate rules. Yet the DC media, thanks to its strong influence pushes the narrative that this IS important and is befuddled why people aren't freaking out about this.
How can you be shocked if not everyone is tuned in?
That's my biggest gripe. The fact that the Acela corridor has this massive black hole of influence over American media and journalism is frustrating. In fact, many students who went to summer classes at Boston University with me said they see working in DC or New York as the only option here.
That's just sad.
Walter Cronkite said that one of the worries he had was that there would be a lack of desire to work anywhere else than these areas, and encouraged broadcasters and journalists to go out into the midwest, the south, the rust belt, and go talk to people and tell local stories.
People like local stories! They are easy to understand, and you can connect personally with them, bridging divides and starting more conversations within the community.
In fact, it is because of that kind of storytelling that made me want to go into broadcast journalism. You meet so many new people and begin to understand them, thus stepping out of that bubble you have created for yourself.
I don’t know if many people will care about how the Acela Corridor is making me worried about journalism and broadcasting, but I do hope there is a serious conversation about it. America is big! And it needs storytellers across the country to listen and share stories in all parts and places.