"You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it." --James Baldwin
After spending time teaching in South Africa schools, I can say this NY Times article paints a beautiful and genuine picture of South Africa's schoolchildren. And after five months of working in education policy, I'm forever convinced that our systems of education need to be fundamentally restructured before we can tout the promise of the education.
Five, ten, twenty years from now, I anticipate my morning routine to parallel that of today’s: finally jumping in the shower after 30 minutes of snooze, rummaging through my closet for anything to wear that doesn’t require ironing, bolting downstairs to grab my keys, purse, coat and whatever extra baggage I deem necessary for the day, & running out the door to the bus, hoping someone behind me will set the alarm. All seems normal, but in this future life, instead of enjoying my morning Express on the metro, I’m suddenly frantically fact-checking every story on my Blackberry. Instead of reading one or two news sources each morning, I spend my first hour at work trying to determine which stories I read were indeed true.
Why the extra hassle? Because the newsrooms were never able to pull themselves out of the crisis they face today. Because newsrooms now are lacking in resources necessary to present the news. Because now it’s become a game of who can be the loudest, not the truest.
The thought of a nation without balanced (albeit “balanced” is likely not the right adjective for our current media, but it’s close) and accurate news coverage is beyond a nightmare. It will usher in the decay of any healthy democracy—as demonstrated in many countries around the world.
SaveTheNews.org is a pivotal campaign striving to develop a public policy focus on the journalism crisis. The organization has managed to capture my attention (and my Twitter feed) time and time again. They suggest five policy priorities for lifting journalism out of its current crisis: new ownership structures, new incentives, journalism jobs program, research and development, & new public media.
After assisting in the production of my boss’ upcoming book, Education Unbound, (ASCD, February 2010—be on the lookout!) I think I can buy in to SaveTheNews’ suggestions with a few cautions. While my boss’ book focuses strictly on the education sector, the same intuitions apply. Markets left to their own will often fail. The key in a market-based approach to problem solving is to create constructive guidelines. As stated in SaveTheNews’ report, “A true Fourth Estate should be neither dependent on the whims of the market nor subject to shifting political landscapes.” While the comparison of the newsroom to the classroom isn’t completely parallel, I think it can make the point. Like the newsroom, the classroom is a longstanding institution, which serves the public good. Like the newsroom, the classroom has been unable to adapt to meet the needs of a changing world. The solution here, I believe, is to lift the barriers to innovation and make room for those able to problem solve.
SaveTheNews’ suggestions are brilliant examples of appropriate government involvement. New ownership structures (i.e. the creation of nonprofit and low-profit newsrooms) and new tax incentives would allow news organizations to realistically thrive. R&D can foster new ideas and show us what works (or more likely what doesn’t work). The importance of research and development is consistently undervalued in just about every field but science. The opportunities for R&D in the realm of media are endless.
The only policy suggestions I take issue with are those that involve heavy government funding in either the training of journalists or operations of a newsroom. When government money is so directly involved in non-government functions, you risk bias. However, ironically, the news source I trust most—the BBC—is funded by government. The SaveTheNews’ report challenges fears of government sponsorship by providing compelling research which shows that subsidized media is just as critical of government action as private media. Further research of my own (after all, I am a journalist at heart) may convince me that subsidies aren’t as problematic if we can indeed build safeguards that buffer newsrooms from the political pendulum. Stay tuned.
What I'm most looking forward to:
