The watchdog role that journalists play in holding public officials and powerful corporations accountable. When a newspaper closes or slashes its reporting staff, there’s no one to play that role anymore. It’s like getting rid of the police officers who patrol neighborhoods. Elected officials appear to know this. When The Denver Post announced cuts in 2018, this report popped up in the news.
When I shared this podcast episode with family a few days ago, one of them said “they should write blogs instead. Why should I care, I never read or pay for newspapers anyway?”
…this explains why he believes Trump is not a criminal in spite of the fact that he’s been implicated in at least one felony and several tax evasion schemes already. The question of how we pay for access to real information once newspapers and their investigative journalism fails remains unanswered.
