My Point of View by Jennifer Vogt-Erickon

 

Why subscribe to a newspaper in an era of “fake news?”

Media has changed enormously in the last couple decades, and the internet is the main disrupter that has transformed the news environment. The internet eclipsed print newspapers as a source of news in 2008, and social media platforms have further impacted how people consume news.

Last week, the Pew Research Center released survey data that shows print newspapers have dropped below social media as a source from which Americans often get news. Television remains the most popular outlet of news for people ages 50 and older, online news sites are preferred among people 30 to 49, and social media is the most frequent source of news for people 18 to 29. Overall, 16 percent of people report newspapers as a source from which they frequently obtain news.

Print may be waning, but the case for keeping newspapers in some form is a strong one. In smaller cities, newspapers are important for social reasons like community cohesion, marking milestones and keeping a historical record.

It’s not just a feel good difference, though. It’s political and financial. Areas that lack local media coverage have less civic engagement, less-informed voters and lower voter turnout. Without media oversight, local politicians have reduced motivation to work hard and represent the interests of their constituents.

In October, three finance professors from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago presented findings that the loss of local newspapers also increases the cost of borrowing to municipalities. The dearth is associated with higher government wages and higher deficits. In their paper, “Financing dies in darkness?”, they conclude that “local newspapers hold their government accountable, keeping municipalities borrowing costs low and ultimately saving taxpayers money.”

So, good government isn’t just about checks and balances from within, it’s about media playing a vital watchdog role from without.

Minnesota still has newspapers in every one of its 87 counties, but this shouldn’t be taken for granted. Minnesota has lost 17 percent of its newspapers since 2003, and this past week the Byron Review and the Star Herald (a merger of the Hayfield Herald and Dodge Center Star Record) announced they are folding. This affects the northeast corner of Minnesota House District 27A, which includes Albert Lea.

That brings us back to “fake news.” Does it really matter to lose a newspaper if news is suspect anyway? Media has been embattled over the question of objectivity, especially now with a president who has a splenetic proclivity for labeling any news coverage he dislikes as “fake news.”

This idea seems to be widespread. One of my Canadian writing acquaintances, Katherine Wagner, focused her latest column on recent “words of the year” from different dictionaries. Dictionary.com selected “misinformation” for 2018, Collin’s Dictionary chose “fake news” for 2017 and Oxford Dictionary made “post-truth” its word of the year in 2016.

Mirroring these choices, the Association of German Language announced “Postfaktisch” (post truth) as its word of the year in 2016, and the Language Council of Norway made “falske nyheter” (fake news) its top word for 2017.

It’s true that people must maintain a healthy skepticism of news sources, but critical coverage that may be unpleasant is not something to be automatically wary of. Rather, it’s central to the mission of the press, or the fourth estate.

As British journalist Brian Roberts observed in 1953, “It is the job of the fourth estate to act as a check and a restraint on the others, to illumine the dark corners of Ministries, to debunk the bureaucrat, to throw often unwelcome light on the measures and motives of our rulers. “News” as (William Randolph) Hearst once remarked, “is something which somebody wants suppressed; all the rest is advertising.” That job is an essential one and it is bound to be unpopular; indeed, in a democracy, it may be argued that the more unpopular the newspapers are with the politicians, the better they are performing their most vital task.”

With all of our choices for news, it’s important and more convenient than ever to follow a variety of competing outlets. It’s also necessary to invest not just time but also money in journalism, including at a local level. As individuals, it’s easy to drop a subscription and think it will save money in the short term, but research seems to indicate otherwise in the long term.

Support journalism, demand quality and objectivity, and may the truth prevail.

(My Point of View columns are unpaid. I have no direct financial interest in this newspaper.)

Jennifer Vogt-Erickson is a member of the Freeborn County DFL Party.