Joel Abrams đź«–Dec 28, 2022
@jeff @melaniesill Two thoughts on this: 1. The sadness of the George Santos affair, that no local journalist was around to even do the most basic background check on him - not once, but twice. And 2) politics is less partisans and more civil and more productive with our neighbors. When people think of politics as just what goes on among elites in DC, things gets worse https://theconversation.com/local-newspapers-can-help-reduce-polarization-with-opinion-pages-issues-158834
Local newspapers can help reduce polarization with opinion pages that focus on local issues

The best op-ed pages operate like a town square, allowing readers to discuss and debate issues important to their communities and beyond. But many now focus on divisive national political issues.

The Conversation
Show threadDan KennedyDec 28, 2022
@jeff @BostonAbrams @melaniesill This is not correct. https://dankennedy.net/2022/12/23/a-long-island-weekly-had-the-goods-on-santos-several-weeks-before-election-day/
A Long Island weekly had the goods on Santos several weeks before Election Day

Media Nation
Show threadMelanie SillDec 28, 2022
@dankennedy_nu @jeff @BostonAbrams Good piece -- and I think it actually reinforces the point. (I don't give the Times the pass you do, they have 1,200 journalists and cover mayoral politics with glee, they prioritize prediction and other parts of politics)
Show threadDan KennedyDec 28, 2022
@jeff @BostonAbrams @melaniesill If the point is that local news is dying, then the local weekly’s article contradicts it rather than reinforces it. Did you know, for instance, that there was good local coverage of the Flint water crisis? But no one paid attention until the national media swooped in. https://grist.org/article/the-goldman-prize-missed-the-black-heroes-of-flint-just-like-the-media-did/
The Goldman Prize missed the black heroes of Flint — just like the media did

Those most often credited with bringing attention to the years-long water crisis were part of a more diverse group demanding justice.

Grist
Show threadMelanie SillDec 28, 2022
@dankennedy_nu @jeff @BostonAbrams Well, hmm. My point is that the loss of local reporting has a (demonstrated) negative impact on people's ability to get important information. In this case, a weekly outlet did some vetting - but other local media failed to do that or to pick up on it. I don't think it contradicts anything about the crisis in local news. And in fact supports my point that good local journalism and local newspapers aren't the same thing.
Show threadEd SandersDec 28, 2022

@melaniesill @dankennedy_nu @jeff @BostonAbrams
I really don’t mean to be rude, but this is horseshit. The information was there. It had nothing to do with the public’s access to it & everything to do with willfully ignoring it. Stop pretending giving people the information will get them to do the right thing.

147 Republicans VOTED against certifying the election because they wanted to, not because they were uninformed. Yes, we need local journalism, but that’s not the problem here.

Show threadMelanie SillDec 28, 2022

@EdSanders @dankennedy_nu @jeff @BostonAbrams Think we can stay civil (this isn't twitter, thank goodness).

My original post wasn't about #Santos. But looking at this in terms of the job of #journalists and #LocalNews (different from job of political parties), it seems most voters were in the dark about the candidate's background before they cast ballots. And the response to the post-election reporting shows that the information has had impact, and likely will have more, despite being late.

Show threadDan KennedyDec 28, 2022
@jeff @melaniesill @EdSanders @BostonAbrams I’ve spent most of my academic career reporting on and writing about the local news crisis. I just don’t think this is a good example.
Peter LeeDec 30, 2022
Show threadMelanie Sill

@dankennedy_nu @jeff @EdSanders @BostonAbrams

Getting back to our discussion, this @washingtonpost story on the small paper that reported on #Santos pre-election touches on connections to the loss of local news capacity:

https://wapo.st/3vsHIg2

Beyond numbers, it’s about using resources on reporting that might not offer immediate payoff (i.e. candidate vetting). I’ve seen outlets that used to claim elections as a franchise shift to barely covering them.

A tiny paper broke the George Santos scandal but no one paid attention

The North Shore Leader was onto his lies months before he was elected in New York.

The Washington Post
Dec 30, 2022 at 1:11pmWeb
Show threadDan KennedyDec 30, 2022
@melaniesill @jeff @EdSanders @BostonAbrams As I’m sure you noticed, several senior people at Newsday are among the Leader’s subscribers. I could go back 25 years, when the Boston media were furious with a Republican political consultant for not warning them that a congressman he was working for might lose. These issues are not new, and they exist separately from the problem of news deserts. Long Island is not a news desert.
Show threadMelanie SillDec 30, 2022
@dankennedy_nu @jeff @EdSanders @BostonAbrams Thanks, but I never said “news desert.” The local news crisis is about much more than the loss of newspapers. And to get back to the point of my original post last week, we need to be thinking about what local news needs to be beyond the count of local newspapers.
Show threadDan KennedyDec 30, 2022
@EdSanders @jeff @melaniesill @BostonAbrams I did not mean to put “news desert” in your mouth. Overall, though, I’m not sure this fits into any paradigm other than journalistic sloth and arrogance, which has always been a problem. We have always failed to vet candidates whom we deem to have no chance of winning, and every so often we get burned. That’s the point I was trying to make.