I am very interested in all of the articles on the future of journalism. However, on my preliminary pass through them, one comment jumped out at me. Louis Jacobson ’92 of PolitiFact remarks, “The ability to help referee [questions of truth] puts me at the center of the political discussion.”
This is the fundamental concept that has destroyed journalism. Truth is what it is, and the journalist’s job is to find it and print it accurately, without judgment.
Refereeing, evaluating, ranking, and deliberately leaving some out are what our national-level “journalists” have done extensively for the past 50 years — particularly in the last 15 years and vehemently in the last three — while they push their viewpoints.
Whatever the excuse is or whatever bad behavior is exhibited on the other side does not justify this behavior that destroys our ability to have dialogue and solve problems together.