Welcome to Second Rough Draft, a newsletter about journalism in our time, how it (especially its business) is evolving, and the challenges it faces. A

What Do Our News Values Mean Now?

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2021-05-20 19:00:10

Welcome to Second Rough Draft, a newsletter about journalism in our time, how it (especially its business) is evolving, and the challenges it faces.

A lot feels up for grabs in society right now, not least the values that guide the news. I thought it might be useful this week to take a look at a few news values that were once thought to be widely understood and shared[1], and now are the subjects of roiling debate.

Journalists have not often described themselves as neutrals (except perhaps in covering wars between countries not including their own), but this is a term I hear “civilians” use frequently as something to which they believe reporters should aspire. “Neutrality” may be an especially attractive value if you view public life as an endless series of fights between two sides distinguishable most importantly by the primary colors of their uniforms.

But the caricature reveals the flaw: public life is far more complicated than that. Many debates have more than two reasonable sides; some only have one. The contenders in those debates on whom we should be focusing are those communities most deeply affected and those most knowledgeable, not the same partisans every time. And one of the critical roles of contemporary journalism is to reveal and explore the connective tissue that transforms groups of ideas into ideologies, getting beyond the primary colors to the deeper affinities, prejudices and aspirations.

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