NYT Missed the Point on Local Story
Top Story: The Dangers of Missing the Point
How was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
In journalism-speak that expression probably translates into: Don’t bury the lede.
This week, Reporting Right is giving The New York Times an “F” for doing just that, losing sight of what a recent story should have been about.
A Tennessee sheriff jailed a man for 5 weeks for reposting a meme.
The New York Times learned about the arrest and wrote a piece that largely centered on the man’s internet addiction.
Although Larry Bushart was incarcerated on a $2 million bail, lost his job and is now financially unstable (because his wife was so stressed while he was in jail she couldn’t work) The New York Times spent graf after graf describing Bushart’s internet use and the ways in which the jailing made him rethink his unhealthy, all-consuming relationship to social media.
Further, the poorly-chosen tone of the piece suggested that perhaps it was a good thing that Bushart had been jailed. All that time behind bars got him thinking.
Really, New York Times?
Here’s what The New York Times should have done:
Reported on the ways that the Trump administration has normalized, even condoned free speech violations —and how this is impacting local municipalities and creating a disturbing boldness on the part of local officials. A look at Tennessee, specifically would have been a good idea.
Explained why jailing someone for expressing their opinion online is unconstitutional and undemocratic. Remember: Most Americans are getting any civics in school.
Asked the sheriff (a public official) some probing questions about his commitment to the First Amendment — and quoted him in the piece.
Questioned the elected officials in charge of paying that sheriff’s salary. What types of repercussions will he face?
Inquired about whether the Department of Justice would be opening an investigation.
Related what life in jail was like for Mr. Bushart.
At a time like this, seems like the journalism community ought to have some reporter version of the Hierarchy of Needs — as it relates to our democracy. Such a hierarchy would most definitely have put free speech over internet addiction in terms of import.
Today, a free speech violation on your beat is not an isolated incident, and it should not be treated like one.
If you are reporting on one, put the incident in context with examples of other places/times in recent months this has happened.
Missing the point isn’t just bad journalism. It is the difference between an informed citizenship and people ignorant of how their rights are being trampled on.
Here’s some important background:
He criticized the police; he got a knock on his door
She made a Facebook critique; the police arrived
Free Speech considerations for local government
An open letter to local public officials
Donald Trump’s attempt to criminalize free speech
Also in the news
Lara Trump says we will have “many Trumps” running for office
American lawyers start tracking Trump retaliation cases
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Our Staff
Executive Editor Kyle Spencer
Our Board of Advisors
Alex Aronson, executive director of Court Accountability
David Armiak, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy
Connor Gibson, founder of Grassrootbeer Investigations
Maurice Cunningham, retired associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and author of Dark Money and The Politics of School Privatization.
Isaac Kamola, associate professor of political science at Trinity College, founder of Faculty First Responders and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
Nancy MacLean, William H. Chafe distinguished professor of history and public policy at Duke University and author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America
Ralph Wilson, founder of the Corporate Genome Project and co-author of Free Speech and Koch Money, Manufacturing a Campus Culture War
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