Local News Is Ground Zero - Editorial
Last Saturday, the League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area put on a free community event as part of its Dr. Florence Seldin “Democracy Is Not A Spectator Sport” Speaker Series.
Two guest speakers were featured, each of whom discussed the focal topics and namesakes of the event: Media, Misinformation, and the Protection of Democracy. Because these topics just so happen to be extremely relevant to Bourne and recent developments in town, we felt it would be beneficial to pass along some of the speakers’ lessons to our readers.
Dr. Joan Donovan, the first speaker, is a field-leading expert in examining internet and technology studies, online extremism, media manipulation and disinformation campaigns, in addition to several other accolades. The same can be said for the second speaker, Dan Kennedy, a professor of journalism at Northeastern University and nationally known media commentator who could formerly be found as a frequent panelist on WGBH’s “Beat The Press.”
On the topic of misinformation, Dr. Donovan provided a helpful guideline. Misinformation is, pretty simply, inaccurate or false information that is often spread by people who mistakenly believe it to be true. Disinformation, on the other hand, is false or inaccurate information that is deliberately shared with an intent to deceive.
Intent is an important difference maker here, but whenever either breed of false information becomes widespread, the public’s faith in the media is eroded. And these troubles are not reserved for just the biggest or most-followed global or national media outlets; they plague media on the state and local levels, too. You need look no further than these very pages to see proof of that, and we would even wager that a storm of false information, whether spread with ill intent or not, is much harder to combat when one finds oneself in the eye of it.
Speaking on the importance of local news, professor Kennedy’s main point can be summarized succinctly: local news matters. As an expert on the topic with extensive experience in the field, Mr. Kennedy had a number of thoughts on local news that caught our attention. Below are a few we thought were worth sharing:
Local media are typically more trusted than national outlets.
Local news increases civic engagement and encourages participation and accountability.
Polarization is mitigated when opinion sharing is locally focused.
Some of these things feel more true than others. In just the past few months we have seen all of these things happen, both in Bourne and this newspaper: trust in the media and its integrity have been questioned, accountability has been skirted, and civic engagement has exploded for better and for worse.
To top it all off, both misinformation and disinformation have managed to run rampant through town, despite our best efforts to maintain an accurate record of news. We have made numerous attempts to correct the public record—evidence of which can be found in this very edition—but it is proving to be an uphill battle, at least in some aspects.
Are these just the signs of a well-functioning, high-integrity local newspaper doing its job? We hope so. Because our job, at the end of the day, is to report accurately all day, every day. We, as journalists, are wholly dedicated to serving two things: the community and the truth. No matter what curveballs are thrown our way, we will never waver from that.
Local newspapers are dying. You, reader, are actually quite lucky to live in an area flush with four local newspapers and then some. Without local news, how would you know what the select board’s latest hot topic is? Where do you go when something is going on that you think is worthy of public awareness? Who else can you rely on to ensure accountability or to provide accurate, objective information? Local news, when you really think about it, is where it all starts. It is ground zero.
One of Dr. Donovan’s final thoughts of the day was that in a world where searching for local news, especially online, is not easy, the members of the media need to be good, intentional information sharers and do their due diligence to keep their circles informed.
This concept, in essence, is the very mission that this newspaper was built upon. We would like to think we have made good on that promise so far and we hope you think so, too.