Street Roots • October 20-26, 2017
O p in io n
Page 3
It’s not ‘Fake News’; it’s propaganda
had the pleasure of taking part in the City
decides on presenting the news can shape how
Club’s Friday Forum last week on “News
the public perceives the validity of “real news.”
Media in a Post-Fact World.” Myself and
Wilson spoke about the need for newsrooms
Kimberly Wilson, former Oregonian reporter and to reflect the communities that they serve.
communications director with Meyer Memorial
The reality is if you don’t have reporters in a
Trust, were joined by Ben Dejarnette from the
newsroom that come from different
University of Oregon’s Agora Journalism Center
backgrounds, it’s going to show and ultimately
for the
have a negative impact on communities that are
conversation.
either being discriminated against or struggling
Many of the
to have their voice heard in the community.
questions posed
It’s my opinion that much of the injustice
to all of us had to
that we see today is shaped by individuals and
do with the
organizations taking advantage of social media
current media
platforms and newsrooms that have remained
climate, how the
both insular and white.
industry is
Many good reporters have a natural instinct
Israel Bayer is the
changing
and
executive director o f
and ability to read people and situations.
what
it
means
to
be
consumers
of
news.
Street Roots. You can
Sometimes those instincts can’t be taught in
reach him at
One of the topics was fake news, a term
journalism school or won’t come from your
israel@streetroots. org
we at Street Roots have come to despise.
traditional trajectory of going from college to
or follow him on
Fake
news
isn’t
news
at
all;
it’s
propaganda,
Twitter @israelbayer.
working in journalism.
plain and simple. We should stop using the
If you’re a poor kid that is lucky enough to
term. People creating content not based in
make it through journalism school, it’s almost
fact is not news. Again, it’s propaganda.
impossible to survive in your 20s working to
In a time when people are accessing news in
build out your career and eventually land a job in
new ways, mostly online, it’s hard at times for
a newsroom. Meaning that, for the most part,
the general public to understand what is real
only people with a safety net have the ability to
news and what is propaganda. It’s even more
go into journalism. It means that many people
difficult when the president of the United States
with shared experiences of the very things that
is targeting actual news organizations like CN N
matter to our community aren’t there on the
or N BC, calling them purveyors of “fake-news.”
front lines reporting the nuances of the news, or
Another question posed was: How do we
able to give context.
respond to a climate where the general public no
More so, the entire industry is a crapshoot.
longer trusts media institutions? That’s a hard
The traditional mechanism of supporting
one. Understanding that prior to the internet,
newspapers and advertising is no longer a viable
many consumers of news had less access to a
option to maintain record profits at a newspaper.
variety of newspapers and media outlets than we
In many cases, newspapers are still making
do today, I think it’s up for debate on how much
money, it’s just not the record profits they once
the general public has ever really trusted the
enjoyed.
newsroom.
Plus the platform in which advertising is being
Given that many editorial boards throughout
sold by many newspapers has moved from print
the years defended slavery, Jim Crow, the
media to online advertising. What this means for
Vietnam War, the notion that there were
the consumer is that the content begins to
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and on and
matter less and less, so long as people are
on. It’s not as if there was actually ever a golden
clicking on and commenting on the stories
age of journalism across the board.
themselves. Each time a troll makes a comment
But that said, that doesn’t mean journalism
on a story in The Oregonian, it serves as
doesn’t play a key role in maintaining
leverage for the newspaper to go back to
democracy, or helping shape public opinion and
advertisers to make money. It’s a sad affair.
understanding of the world around us. It does.
The smartest people in the business don’t
It’s just that many of the platforms people use to
know exactly how to survive. Every newspaper
access the news have shifted with the
is shrinking and losing resources, sometimes
emergence of social media and other platforms
little by little and sometimes by a lot all at once.
that deliver the news. Whereas readers once
When people say, what about Street Roots?
bought a newspaper filled with everything from
Isn’t it growing? It’s apples and oranges. We are
sports to local politics, now they cherry-pick
small potatoes in the larger landscape of the
their news on an article-by-article basis.
media, and we don’t have the resources to fail,
It’s also a reality that newsrooms are
period. That’s not to take away from our great
shrinking. Couple this with the emergence of
reporting, or the fact that the media landscape
Twitter and Facebook - you’re bound to have a
is made up of more and more small, issue
variety of narratives that not only shape the way
focused media outlets that are doing more with
we view the world, but also allow voices from all
less. After all, we are just one grant or major
ends of the political spectrum to have a
donation away from having to downsize
platform.
ourselves. Journalism isn’t free. Nothing is.
It’s my belief that great journalism presents
It’s easy to beat up on the media industry or
both problems and solutions in our community
to critique it in a way that delivers more
and the world and drives people toward the idea
negative than positive criticism. The reality is we
of solving problems and highlighting the
do have some amazing reporters in Portland
solutions.
working long, hard hours to get the story right
Obviously, the media also serves to provide a
and deliver it in a way that’s both informative
watchdog component for both society and
and serves the broader public. That’s not going
government. The makeup of a newsroom, the
to change anytime soon.
chosen content, and how an editorial team
I
if available.
Street Roots
211 NW Davis S t , .
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-5657
Fax:503-227-3117
www.streeiroots.org
www.news.streetroots.org
Hours: 7:30 a.m:-3 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 7:30
a.m.-2 p.m. Sat. and 7:30-1 p.m. Sun.
Advertising
Interested in advertising in Street Roots?
Contact Israel Bayer at israel@streetroots.org
Staff
Executive Director Israel Bayer
israel@streetroots.org
Executive Editor Joanne Zuhl
joanne@streetroots.org
Vendor Program Director Cole Merkel
cole@streetroots.org
Operations Director Sarah Beecroft
Program Assistant Caelin Miltko, Jesuit
Volunteer
Development Assistant Rosemary Wilson
Editorial Assistant Monica Kwasnik
Vendor Assistant Scott Jackson
Reporters Emily Green, Sarah Hansell,
Leonora Ko, Emilly Prado, Jared Paben,
Amanda Waldroupe, Stephen Quirke,
Helen Hill
Photographers Diego Diaz, Arkady Brown
Canvasser Desmond Hardison
Board of Directors
Chairman Brad Taylor
Vice-Chairman Rachel Langford
Treasurer Heather Stadick
Secretary Dan Jones
Directors Rich Rodgers, Michael Anderson,
Sandra Hahn, John Brown, Nels Johnson and
Alison Hallett
Volunteers
Jan Bayer, John Barker, Stacey Heath, Anjali Rathore,
Zoe Klingmann, Dan Jones, Dennis Hogan, Monica
McKune, Susan W olfe, Lucas Hawthorne, Thomas
Buell Jr., Jeanie Lunsford, Jason Cohen, Doug
Spangle, Susannah Kamala, Jon Raymond, Diana
Richardson, Paul and Madeline Gefroh, Mary Anne
Joyce, Del Shawn Davidson, Gillian Floren, Mark
OIDani, Bianca Butler, Alex Cherin, Jenny Fames, Evan
Firsick, Camber Hansen-Karr, M iranda Woods, Henry
Brannan, Megan Smith, Luke Scheuermann, Annie
Aube, Helen Hill, M ark Brown, Lily Krai, Mary
Emerson, Adam Bruns, Brooke Anderson and Megan
Pickerel-Winer. If you're interested in volunteering
w ith Street Roots, please subm it a volunteer
application at streetroots.org/volunteer. Or you can
call fo r more inform ation at 503-228-5657.