It’s All Journalism comes to a close after 12 years and 127 days.
Having worked on a podcast focused on the changing state of digital media for so long, I feel somewhat obligated to offer my take on where journalism is heading.
Let’s get the not so good things out of the way first.
I really thought we would’ve cracked the revenue problem by now and I don’t think we ever will.
The big dailies aren’t going to come back and trying to recreate a news product at that scale seems impossible — and is probably not what we should be pursuing anyway.
Fake news? Lame-stream media? Who are we kidding? Journalists have never been anyone’s favorite.
I used to say that journalists were just above circus clowns and politicians on the likability scale. But somedays, lately, I can’t help feeling like we’re wrestling with politicians not to be at the bottom of the barrel. Circus clowns? Oh, they passed us by a long time ago and aren’t looking back.
Disinformation. Misinformation. Lack of trust. Censorship. Shrinking audiences. Corporate takeovers. J-school enrollment in decline. Systemic racism. Misogyny. Online trolling. Doxing. Violence against marginalized communities. Violence against reporters. Fascism.
Those are some really rotten, troubling things.
If you’ve listened to a fair number of It’s All Journalism episodes, you may have heard me say, “People think journalists are cynics or pessimists, but we’re not. Anyone, who believes that they can change something by reporting about it, has to be an optimist. We believe things can change.”
Look at the people at the top of this page — more than 650 conversations with over 700 working journalists. Some were cynics — I have to report the truth — but none were pessimists. Not one.
Those 700 or so people believed the work they are doing could change things. And it frequently does.
With It’s All Journalism and Better News, we shared their successes, innovations, and belief that good journalism was a mechanism for fighting those really, rotten, troubling things I mentioned. I’ve talked to those optimists and heard it from their own mouths.
It’s a big responsibility to be a journalist. Sometimes it may feel like each of us carries the weight of the world on our shoulders. People we love don’t always understand why we do what we do, especially when it is frequently discouraging and we’re rarely well-compensated for all the hard work we do.
What I’ve learned in podcasting for 12 years about the changing state of media is that it will continue to change and we will need to continue to change with it. That means mastering new skills, thinking new ideas and challenging ourselves to do better.
Collaborate. Innovate. Question authority. When a person of color or someone in a marginalized community says to you that they’re being prejudiced against, listen to them, acknowledge their truth and report their story.
This is the parent in me: Do good journalism, yes. But be smart, be safe and don’t be afraid to ask for help. It may feel like the world is on your shoulders. It’s not. Rotten, troubling things come in many sizes. Remember, all news is local. Right the wrong that’s in front of you.
It will be sad not to have regular conversations with very smart and optimistic people doing great journalism, but it’s time to step away from the buffet to make room for others.
To the our many guests, thank you for being generous with your time and teaching us so much.
To our listeners, thank you for taking this journey with us.
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Michael O’Connell, host and one of the founding producers of It’s All Journalism, shares what he learned from the more than 650 conversations he had during the podcast’s 12 years.
