When local news dies, so does our democracy | Chuck Plunkett | TEDxMileHigh

Summary

Journalist Peter van de Ven shares his journey and the crisis in local news. He recounts the decline of The Denver Post, from a Pulitzer-winning powerhouse to a shell of its former self due to corporate greed and the digital shift. Van de Ven's call to action urges public funding for journalism, emphasizing its vital role in democracy and the dangers of unchecked power without a vigilant press.

Takeaways

• 📰 The speaker is a veteran journalist who has worked for major newspapers and emphasizes the importance of local news in democracy.
• 🔍 Journalists are trained to evaluate evidence carefully, seek credible sources, and correct mistakes, which has shaped the speaker's identity.
• 🏛️ The speaker has experienced the decline of the local news industry firsthand, with massive staff reductions at The Denver Post after being sold to a hedge fund.
• 💔 The shift from print to digital media has not been financially successful for newspapers, leading to further job cuts and a decrease in journalistic quality.
• 🏆 Despite winning a Pulitzer Prize, The Denver Post continued to face budget cuts, highlighting the disconnect between success and funding in the industry.
• 🗣️ The speaker argues that local news is crucial for an informed public, enabling better decision-making in elections and policy.
• 🏞️ The concept of 'news deserts' is introduced, where entire communities lack substantial news coverage, leading to uninformed citizens.
• 📉 The speaker points out the negative impact of the decline in local news on the political process, including the rise of wealthy candidates and a more partisan electorate.
• 🛑 The speaker calls for a public-funding option for newspapers to ensure their survival and the health of democracy.
• 🚫 The speaker warns that the decline of local newsrooms leads to a lack of oversight and accountability in government and corporations.
• 🌟 The speech concludes with a call to action for a revolution in how local news is valued and supported, to preserve democracy.

Q & A

What is the main concern expressed by the speaker in the script?

The main concern expressed by the speaker is the decline of local news and its impact on democracy, highlighting the importance of local journalism and the consequences of its disappearance.

How has the speaker's experience at The Denver Post evolved over the years?

The speaker started at The Denver Post in 2003, where it was a thriving news organization with nearly 300 journalists. However, after being sold to a hedge fund, Alden Global Capital, the newsroom was reduced by nearly half, and the speaker eventually became part of a rebellion against the owners' mismanagement.

What was the speaker's reaction to the continuous reduction of journalists at The Denver Post?

The speaker was deeply affected by the reduction of journalists, feeling that the quality and depth of local news coverage suffered. This led to a major depression and the decision to publicly criticize the owners through a special editorial.

What is the term 'news deserts' referring to in the script?

'News deserts' refers to communities, often entire counties, that have little to no local news coverage due to the closure of newsrooms and the decline of local journalism.

How did the speaker describe the impact of local news on democracy?

The speaker described local news as a mirror that reflects the community back to itself, empowering people with information that enables them to make informed decisions. The decline of local news leads to uninformed voters and a weakened democracy.

What role did the speaker believe local news played in elections?

The speaker believes that local news plays a critical role in elections by thoroughly vetting, scrutinizing, and fact-checking candidates, ensuring that voters are well-informed and can make educated choices.

What was the speaker's reaction to the news of further staff cuts at The Denver Post in 2018?

The speaker was deeply upset by the news of further staff cuts, leading to a realization that the paper was being destroyed and prompting a decision to publicly confront the owners.

What action did the speaker and a team of writers take to protest the situation at The Denver Post?

The speaker and a team of eight writers secretly prepared a special Sunday Perspective section with a hard-hitting editorial aimed directly at the owners, demanding investment in quality journalism or selling the paper to owners who would.

What was the outcome of the speaker's public confrontation with the owners of The Denver Post?

The public confrontation led to widespread support and recognition of the issue, but as expected, the speaker was forced to resign from The Denver Post.

What is the speaker's view on the necessity of local news for a functioning democracy?

The speaker strongly believes that local news is vital for a functioning democracy, serving as a check and balance and providing the necessary information for an informed citizenry. The speaker calls for public funding to support local newsrooms.

What is the speaker's call to action for the audience regarding the state of local news?

The speaker calls for a revolution, urging the audience to recognize the importance of local news and to support public funding options to ensure the survival of local newsrooms and the health of democracy.

Outlines

00:00

📰 The Crisis in Local Journalism

The speaker, a seasoned journalist, reflects on the transformation of their identity through a career spanning over two decades across various newspapers. They emphasize the journalistic values of thoroughness, credibility, and impartiality. The speaker then shifts to a somber tone, discussing the alarming decline in local news, using their own experience at The Denver Post as a case study. The paper, once a robust institution with nearly 300 journalists, was gutted to a mere 70 after being sold to a hedge fund, Alden Global Capital. Despite industry shifts to digital platforms and the paper's own Pulitzer Prize win, the financial model failed to sustain the newsroom, leading to a profound personal and professional crisis for the speaker.

05:02

🌐 The Impact of Digital on Print Media

This section delves into the financial struggles of newspapers in the digital age, with a focus on The Denver Post's experience. The speaker outlines the historical revenue model of newspapers, which was heavily reliant on print advertisements. The advent of digital platforms like Google, Facebook, and Craigslist led to a significant loss in ad revenue. Despite the company's reported profitability, with profit margins estimated at nearly 20%, the newsroom continued to shrink. The speaker highlights the broader implications of this trend, pointing to the emergence of 'news deserts'—communities with little to no news coverage. They also discuss the phenomenon of 'ghost ships'—newspapers that appear operational but lack substantive journalism. The speaker's personal despair is palpable as they recount the emotional toll of witnessing the decline of an institution they deeply believed in.

10:03

🗳️ The Importance of Local News for Democracy

The speaker argues that the decline of local news has dire consequences for democracy. They describe the role of a local newsroom as a mirror reflecting the community back to itself, providing information that empowers citizens to make informed decisions. The speaker points out that journalists attend city council meetings and legislative hearings, uncovering flaws in proposed measures and ensuring public understanding of ballot measures. They cite research showing that reading local papers can increase voter turnout by 13%, underscoring the impact of local journalism on civic engagement. The absence of robust local news leaves voters ill-informed and more susceptible to partisanship, leading to flawed legislation and the rise of wealthy candidates in elections. The speaker calls for recognition of the indispensable role of local news in maintaining a healthy democracy.

15:07

🚩 A Call for Revolution in News Funding

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker calls for a public debate on funding options to save local newsrooms, likening the situation to a grand democratic experiment at risk. They argue that local newsrooms are not profitable in the era of Google and Facebook and should be funded as vital components of democracy. The speaker passionately advocates against standing by as local news outlets disappear, urging for a revolution to ensure that communities remain informed and engaged. They end with a powerful quote from Thomas Jefferson, emphasizing the press as a crucial check and balance for democracy, and a call to action to prevent the decline of local news from further eroding societal discourse and democratic processes.

Keywords

💡Journalist

A journalist is a professional who gathers, investigates, and reports news for media outlets. In the video, the speaker identifies as a journalist with over 23 years of experience, emphasizing the importance of thoroughness, credibility, and discipline in their profession. The term is central to the video's theme, as it highlights the role journalists play in upholding democracy and the challenges they face in the modern media landscape.

💡Evidence

In the context of journalism, evidence refers to the information or data that supports a news story. The speaker mentions that journalists are trained to evaluate evidence from all relevant angles, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity and accuracy of their reporting. This concept is integral to the video's message about the importance of reliable and credible news sources in a democratic society.

💡Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a prestigious award that recognizes excellence in journalism, among other fields. The speaker's mention of winning a Pulitzer Prize for covering the Aurora Theatre shooting illustrates the high standard of their work and the irony that despite such recognition, their newsroom faced further cuts, reflecting the economic challenges faced by the industry.

💡News Deserts

The term 'news deserts' refers to areas with little to no news coverage, often due to the closure of local news outlets. The speaker uses this term to describe the dire situation of communities left without reliable local news sources, which is a central concern of the video. It underscores the importance of local journalism for informed decision-making and democratic processes.

💡Ghost Ships

In the video, 'ghost ships' metaphorically describes newspapers that appear to function but are essentially hollowed out, with minimal journalistic content. This term is used to criticize the state of some news organizations that have been stripped of their journalistic staff and content, serving primarily as vehicles for advertisements, which is a key issue discussed in the video.

💡Democracy

Democracy is a form of government where power is vested in the people, who have the authority to make decisions, often through voting. The video emphasizes the role of local news in supporting democracy by providing information that empowers citizens to make informed decisions. The decline of local news is presented as a threat to democracy, as it leaves communities without the necessary information to participate effectively in the democratic process.

💡Public-Funding

Public-funding, in the context of the video, refers to the idea of financially supporting news organizations through public means to ensure their survival and continued service to democracy. The speaker advocates for considering public-funding options for local newsrooms, which are vital to the functioning of democracy but struggle to remain profitable in the digital age.

💡Rebellion

In the video, 'rebellion' is used to describe the speaker's act of defiance against the newspaper's owners, who were not investing in the newsroom despite its success. The speaker and a team of writers created a special editorial section to publicly call out the owners, which was a significant event in the narrative and symbolizes the resistance against the decline of local journalism.

💡Depression

Depression, in this context, refers to a severe and prolonged state of sadness and despondency. The speaker shares their personal experience of falling into major depression due to the decline of the newspaper and the loss of their career and institution they believed in. This personal account adds depth to the video's message about the emotional and societal impact of the loss of local news.

💡Fourth Estate

The Fourth Estate is a term that historically refers to the press, which acts as a check and balance on the other three estates of government: the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the democracy. The speaker invokes this term to emphasize the critical role of the press in maintaining a healthy democracy, and the video argues that the decline of local news threatens this essential function.

💡Revolution

In the video, 'revolution' is used to call for a fundamental change in the way society supports and values local news. The speaker argues that more than a single act of rebellion is needed; a broader societal shift is required to ensure the survival and vitality of local journalism, which is essential for the health of democracy.

Highlights

Journalist's identity shaped by thoroughness, discipline, and distrust of ideological purity.

Alarm raised about the dire state of local news.

The Denver Post's decline from 300 journalists to 70 after being sold to a hedge fund.

Shift in newspaper revenue from print ads to digital, which never compensated for the losses.

Winning a Pulitzer Prize did not prevent further staff cuts.

Newsrooms becoming 'ghost ships' with minimal news coverage.

1,800 newsrooms have closed since 2004, creating 'news deserts'.

The importance of local news for an informed democracy.

Local papers' role in mobilizing voters and shaping election outcomes.

The impact of local news decline on the quality of political candidates and elections.

National papers cannot cover local elections effectively.

Local papers as watchdogs keeping politicians and corporations in check.

Thomas Jefferson's view on the importance of newspapers for democracy.

The current state of national discourse as a result of local news decline.

The need for public funding to support local newsrooms as a vital part of democracy.

Call for a revolution in recognizing and funding local news before it's too late.

Transcripts

Translator: Romy Carvalho Reviewer: Peter van de Ven

I've been a journalist for more than 23 years,

at the Arkansas Democrat Gazette,

the Pittsburgh Tribune Review,

and most recently, The Denver Post.

(Applause)

Being a journalist has shaped every aspect of my identity.

We're trained to evaluate the evidence from all relevant angles.

We seek credible, reliable sources,

double-check and triple-check our information,

and then check it again.

When we do make mistakes, we correct them.

It's made me careful, disciplined and thorough.

I distrust ideological purity

and vote for Republicans and Democrats alike.

I've tasted pepper spray, covering protests,

but I've never participated in one.

Perhaps, the most radical thing I've ever done

was getting my ear pierced.

(Laughter)

But as journalist,

it is ingrained in us

that when something goes terribly wrong,

you sound the alarm.

And that's why I'm on this stage today,

because when it comes to the state of local news,

something has gone terribly wrong.

(Applause)

So consider this talk a protest.

(Laughter)

When I started at The Denver Post in 2003,

it was among the country's 10 largest newspapers,

with an impressive subscriber base and nearly 300 journalists.

Before my wife and I could even unpack from the move,

they sent me to Eagle, Colorado.

A young hotel desk clerk

had accused basketball superstar Kobe Bryant of rape.

The Denver Post showed up in force, with a big team

that covered the story and its aftermath

from seemingly every conceivable angle.

At the time, I was in my 30s.

Any ambitious journalist that age

aspires to work for one of the big national papers,

like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal.

But I was simply blown away

by my first few weeks at The Denver Post,

and I thought, "This is going to be my paper.

I can make a career right here."

Well, seven years passed,

and we were sold to a hedge fund:

Alden Global Capital.

Within a few years,

buyouts ordered by past and present owners

would reduce the newsroom by nearly half.

And I understood,

the rule of thumb used to be that 80% of a newspaper's revenue

came from pricey print ads and classifieds.

With emerging giants like Google and Facebook and Craigslist,

those advertising dollars were evaporating.

The entire industry was undergoing a massive shift

from print to digital.

Alden's orders were to be digital first,

take advantage of blogs, video and social media.

They said that one day, the money we made online

would make up for the money we lost in print.

But that day never came.

In 2013, we won a Pulitzer Prize

for covering the Aurora Theatre shooting.

Alden ordered that more journalists be cut.

Again

and again

and again

and again,

we were forced to say goodbye

to talented, hardworking journalists

we considered not just friends,

but family.

Those of us left behind were stretched impossibly thin,

covering multiple beats

and writing rushed articles.

In 2016, I was promoted to my dream job:

the editorial-page editor.

And the access I had ...

On any given day,

I talked to senators, billionaires, mayors, chiefs of police,

the leaders of large grassroots organizations and nonprofits.

People of influence across the state

started their day reading our editorial page.

I've never loved a job more.

I turned 50 that January.

At any other time in the history of journalism,

I would've had every right to believe I had it made,

but that dream job wouldn't even last two years.

Inside a windowless meeting room in March of 2018,

we learned that 30 more would have to go.

This paper that once had 300 journalists

would now have 70.

And it didn't make sense.

Here we'd won multiple Pulitzer Prizes.

We shifted our focus from print to digital.

We hit ambitious targets.

An email from The Brass talked up the Post profit margins,

which industry experts pegged at nearly 20%.

So, if our company was so successful and so profitable,

why was our newsroom getting so much smaller and smaller?

I knew that what was happening in Colorado was happening around the country.

Since 2004,

nearly 1,800 newsrooms have closed.

You've heard of food deserts.

These are news deserts.

They are communities,

often entire counties,

with little to zero news coverage whatsoever.

Making matters worse,

many papers have become ghost ships,

pretending to sail with a newsroom

but really just wrapping ads around filler copy.

More and more newsrooms are being sold off

to companies like Alden,

and in that meeting, their intentions couldn't have been clearer.

"Harvest what you can. Throw away what's left."

A reporter cried out, and I thought,

"They just killed The Denver Post."

I fell into major depression.

A lot of us did.

In a journal entry, I wrote, "I wished I had died in my sleep."

My entire career,

this institution I so believed in

were disappearing.

I thought I had nothing to live for.

And that's when I decided to go rogue.

(Laughter) (Applause)

I realized I could use the paper

to call out the owners before the city and the world.

So, working in secret, with a team of eight writers,

we prepared a special Sunday Perspective section

on the importance of local news,

where the bare-knuckle editorial aimed directly at the owners!

Either invest in a quality newsroom,

we argued,

or sell us to owners who would.

(Applause)

Well, I knew the publication of the package

would end my ten year at The Denver Post.

(Laughter)

Surely I would be fired or forced to resign.

But when the now-or-never moment arrived,

I wrapped the wall next to my standing desk -

the signal that we had published the package.

"Post it to Twitter! Post it to Facebook!

Post it everywhere! Be digital first."

(Laughter)

The Denver rebellion launched like a missile

and went off like a hydrogen bomb.

(Laughter) (Applause)

Clearly, we weren't alone in our outrage.

But, as expected, I was forced to resign.

(Laughter)

And a year later, nothing's changed.

The Denver Post is but a few lone journalists

doing their admirable best

in this husk of a once great paper.

Now, at least some of you are thinking to yourself,

"So what?" right?

"So what? Let this dying industry die."

And I kind of get that.

For one thing, the local news has been in decline for so long

that many of you may not even remember

what it's like to have a great local paper.

Maybe you've seen "Spotlight" or "The Paper,"

movies that romanticize what journalism used to be.

Well, I'm not here to be romantic or nostalgic.

I'm here to warn you that when local news dies,

so does our democracy.

(Applause.)

And that should concern you

regardless of whether you're subscribed.

Here's why.

A democracy is a government of the people.

People are the ultimate source of power and authority.

A great local newsroom acts like a mirror:

its journalists see the community and reflect it back.

That information is empowering.

Seeing, knowing, understanding -

this is how good decisions are made.

When you have a great local paper,

you have journalists sitting in on every city council meeting,

listening in to State House and Senate hearings;

those important but - let's face it -

sometimes devastatingly boring committee hearings.

Journalists discover the flaws and ill-conceived measures,

and those bills fail because the public was well-informed.

Readers go to the polls,

and they know the pros and cons behind every ballot measure

because journalists did the heavy lifting for them.

Even better:

researchers have found that reading a local paper

can mobilize 13% of non-voters to vote.

13 percent!

(Applause)

That's a number that can change the outcome of many elections.

When you don't have a great local paper,

voters are left stranded at the polls,

confused,

trying to make their best guess based on a paragraph of legalese.

Flawed measures pass,

well-conceived, but highly technical measures fail.

Voters become more partisan.

Recently in Colorado,

our governor's race had more candidates than anyone can remember.

In years passed,

journalists would've thoroughly vetted,

scrutinized, fact-checked, profiled, debated

every contender in the local paper.

The Denver Post did its best,

but in the place of past levels of rigorous reporting and research,

the public is increasingly left

to interpret dog-and-pony-show stump speeches

and clever campaign ads for themselves.

With advertising costing what it does,

electability comes down to money.

So, by the end of the primaries,

the only candidates left standing were the wealthiest and best funded.

Many experienced and praise-worthy candidates

never got oxygen.

Because when local news declines,

Is it any surprise that our new governor

was the candidate worth more than 300 million dollars?

Or that billionaire businessmen like Donald Trump and Howard Schultz

can seize the political stage?

I don't think this is what the Founding Fathers had in mind

when they talked about free and fair election.

(Applause)

Now, this is exactly why we can't just rely on the big national papers,

like The Journal and The Times and The Post.

Those are tremendous papers,

and we need them now - my god - more than ever before.

But there is no world in which they could cover

every election in every county in the country.

No! The newsroom best equipped to cover your local election

ought to be your local newsroom -

if you're lucky and still have one.

When election day is over,

a great local paper is still there, waiting, like a watchdog.

When they're being watched, politicians have less power,

police do right by the public,

even massive corporations are on their best behavior.

Perhaps that's why Thomas Jefferson once said,

"Were it left to me to decide

whether to have a government without newspapers

or newspapers without a government,

I would not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter,

newspapers without a government!"

(Applause)

What Jefferson knew and we've forgotten

is that it is the press

that is the check and balance for our democracy.

(Applause)

If you think that the politicians

and the corporations and the special interests

are out there getting away with it,

this is why this mechanism

that for generations has helped inform and guide us

no longer functions the way it used to.

You know intimately

what the poisoned national discourse feels like,

what a mockery of reasoned debate it has become.

This is what happens when local newsrooms shutter

and communities across the country go unwatched and unseen.

Until we recognize that the decline of local news

has serious consequences for our society,

this situation will not improve.

A properly staffed, local newsroom isn't profitable,

and in this age of Google and Facebook,

it's not going to be.

If newspapers are vital to our democracy,

then we should fund them like they're vital to our democracy.

(Applause)

We cannot stand by and let our watchdogs be put down!

We can't let more communities vanish into darkness.

It is time to debate a public-funding option

before the Fourth Estate disappears,

and with it, our grand democratic experiment.

We need much more than a rebellion.

It is time for a revolution!

Thank you.

(Applause)