Quality reporting isn't common either. I check a few news sites now and again to find out what's going on in the world and the signal to noise ratio is abysmal. It's gotten to the point where, when something really major happens I often find out about it from other people first. Then I might hit the news sites to get more information but that information is usually pretty sparse.
I do agree with your point. We need good journalists, and we need good distribution channels and compensation for those journalists. At the same time, the necessity is becoming a bit more niche thanks to the Internet and social media. For global affairs, journalists are an absolute necessity. For things that happen locally ?
The age of smart phones and social media has created a situation where raw, unedited sources get uploaded in near realtime without click-baity headlines and spin-filled editorializing. Which calls into question of the necessity of mainstream news outlets for these types of stories. Typically you'll get many sources in one feed as well.
I don't have the answer. I don't want "quality journalists" to disappear. I'm also seeing less and less of what I can identify as "quality" journalists. Most seem to be independent and post on Substack or produce documentary films. The paywalled mainstream news outlets look more and more like tabloids each day.
Micropayments would improve the incentives. Click a button, pay a penny, see the article. You'd only be willing to do that if you trust the publication to provide quality articles.
Quality reporting isn't common either. I check a few news sites now and again to find out what's going on in the world and the signal to noise ratio is abysmal. It's gotten to the point where, when something really major happens I often find out about it from other people first. Then I might hit the news sites to get more information but that information is usually pretty sparse.
I do agree with your point. We need good journalists, and we need good distribution channels and compensation for those journalists. At the same time, the necessity is becoming a bit more niche thanks to the Internet and social media. For global affairs, journalists are an absolute necessity. For things that happen locally ?
The age of smart phones and social media has created a situation where raw, unedited sources get uploaded in near realtime without click-baity headlines and spin-filled editorializing. Which calls into question of the necessity of mainstream news outlets for these types of stories. Typically you'll get many sources in one feed as well.
I don't have the answer. I don't want "quality journalists" to disappear. I'm also seeing less and less of what I can identify as "quality" journalists. Most seem to be independent and post on Substack or produce documentary films. The paywalled mainstream news outlets look more and more like tabloids each day.