How Journalism Became a Dirty Word
Alternative facts. Post-truth. Fake news. When the president of the United States declares media the “enemy of the American people,” you know we’re in for a moment of reckoning. In adapted excerpts from their forthcoming book, “Reimagining Journalism in a Post-Truth World: How Late-Night Comedians, Internet Trolls, and Savvy Reporters Are Transforming News,” Ed Madison and Ben DeJarnette examine how journalism went wrong, and what it means for democracy.
Ed Madison & Ben DeJarnette
Co-Authors, Reimagining Journalism in a Post-Truth World
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“The Media Is Even Stupider Than The Politicians”
In early October 2015, before the news cycle became entirely consumed by scandal and poll numbers, by 24-hour chatter about Donald Trump’s…
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Journalism’s Gatekeepers Lost Control of Their Gates
No trend has reshaped the media landscape more dramatically than the open web
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Journalism’s Watchdogs Lost Their Teeth
On January 29, 2002, less than 15 minutes into George W. Bush’s first State of the Union address, the president fired the opening salvo of…
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Journalism’s Reform Movement Lost Momentum
By today’s standards, there was nothing particularly unusual about news coverage of the 1988 presidential race. Dozens of campaign…
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Journalism’s Traditional News Products Lost A Generation
For the country’s three major broadcast networks, 2005 could have been a landmark year. In the span of only six months, CBS’s Dan Rather…
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Journalism’s Local Newsrooms Lost Their Scale
Following Donald Trump’s surprise election victory, the internet buzzed with essays and think pieces about the contributing role of fake…
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American Politics Lost Its Soul
Thomas Jefferson’s famous quip that he’d prefer “newspapers without a government” to “a government without newspapers” has become gospel in…
