Agendas, conspiracies and the hard truth of news
One of the most cringe-worthy experiences many veteran journalists have is being told by a new reporter or student reporter that he is getting into the field because they “want to change the world.”
Shiver.
Some pretty horrible people have changed the world in some pretty horrible ways. Sure, some have also changed the world for the better. But it’s a mixed bag at best and most people who changed the world for the better didn’t aspire to do so. Those who specifically aspired to change the world tend to be the ones who ended up constructing concentration camps and enslaving millions. That hubris has no place in media. Tip for aspiring journalist: if you like to learn, reason and write, welcome to the club; if you want to change the world, please go into research medicine and find a cure for cancer and Alzheimers.
This thought occurs to me occasionally for various reasons. This week, it did for a couple of reasons. One, a potential letter/op-ed writer asked how much editing would be done on our part to a submitted piece – presumably to alter the content to better fit with Minot Daily News’ perspective.
Of course, the answer was none. We might fix grammar or something, but we’re very careful to never alter the meaning of what a contributor writes. I was a little taken aback because, in my mind, why would I constantly solicit commentary from third parties just to express the same opinion as we have? It’s much easier for me to express either my opinion (in this column) or the opinion of the newspaper (in the editorial).
Later in the week, I understood the context of the fine first gentleman’s question when a caller asked about the newspaper’s agenda. There was a veiled reference to some conspiracy in regard to a story that, well… wasn’t exactly a priority on our radar. In fact, it took me some time to understand the reference.
Why did these events make me think about the role of media and “changing the world?” It’s because of the mistaken impression some people have about the “agenda” of a newspaper.
Like most private businesses, the agenda of Minot Daily News is pretty simple – we want to be successful enough to continue being in business, support our staff and ownership and remain viable. More simply, our job is selling newspapers.
Now, different departments contribute to this effort in different ways. The editorial department “sells” newspapers by trying to produce the best local product we can, weighted toward local news, features and commentary. Yes, as I have often written, huge national newspaper editorial departments have unfortunately adopted different agendas, and that is sad.
But that’s the sum total of our “agenda.” Surprise! Pizza Hut wants to sell pizza. We want to sell newspapers. Done right, it’s Capitalism 101. It’s just that we trade in news we feel – and you tell us – that you need and want to be a more informed citizen.
More conspiracy minded people ascribe all sorts of other agendas to us. Some legitimately think (or convince themselves) that we have a greater agenda. I’ve been reticent to address this accusation because the truth might come across wrong. So, here is the thing. We start each day with nothing, create a product I am personally quite proud of, and then we go home. And it starts all over again the next day. To be perfectly honest, I might not even remember what the big story was two days ago, unless it remains relevant today. We communicate the news – and we move on. People have a tendency to think we put a lot more deep thought into every item that appears in the paper because, to them, it’s a huge, important story. Meanwhile, to us, it’s one of a hundred stories we talk about or write about in a given week. What some people think as an organized conspiracy to advance some agenda is basically barely a thought to me, and I direct all editorial. Sorry to rain on the conspiracy theorist’s mind – but whatever your issue is, I probably gave it five minutes of thought. I am blessed with a terrific, veteran staff who are above reproach, so the result is… just news.
We save the deep thoughts for legitimately major issues and we discuss them in depth. An individual story? Not so much.
So, to publicly answer the questions addressed to me this week in all clarity. I want our newspaper to be an open forum for ideas – all ideas; and the more the merrier. My goal is to to get ideas and perspectives out to the public, and let the public do what it may from there. So, no, we don’t content-edit submitted material. And as for any agenda besides the same as any business, sorry, there is no reason for that to ever cross my mind. The reason most people – including me – tend to mock conspiracy theories is that conspiracies require people to all agree and people to all keep secrets. That’s utterly impossible in a news room.
We can’t even all agree on lunch.
One doesn’t work in this field for the money, for the glory or to “change the world.” We do it for the love of community, of writing and the occasional chance to speak directly to you.