Category: Opinion

Stop pretending media trust issue is only a problem for national news outlets

A sweeping new Pew Center report that examines trust in the media confirmed an uneasy truth that we can no longer ignore. It’s not just that our readers don’t trust us. They think we are unethical. And like everything else in America right now, it’s a partisan truth. According to the analysis, Republicans consistently express…

Year three of Trump’s war on truth: Replacing enlightenment virtues with Dark Age fantasies

At the end of year three and on the verge of impeachment, Donald J. Trump is destroying Enlightenment principles that undergird American Democracy and the First Amendment – the faith that science, reason, facts and empiricism can triumph over ignorance, superstition, lies and darkness. Our model democracy, our free press, our professional government, our world-class…

Woman reporter portrayed as tired trope in new Eastwood film “Richard Jewell”

In the new film “Richard Jewell,” reporter Kathy Scruggs (played by Olivia Wilde) meets an FBI source (played by Jon Hamm) in a bar. She presses him for information on a suspect in the Atlanta Olympics bombing.  The FBI agent gets annoyed with her persistence. She puts her hand on his upper thigh, leans in,…

Journalism failed the young editors and staffers at The Daily Northwestern–not the other way around

Too easy. That’s how fast the anger and confusion came from those who reacted negatively to the apology offered recently by the editor and staffers of The Daily Northwestern for their coverage of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ campus appearance. But the extreme measure of removing well- and fairly sourced photos, removing a protester’s name…