Distracted Watchdogs

“We need journalists to cover what is important, not bark at every car. 

“If the public wants the press to function as a watchdog, and the press itself aspires to the role, then it needs to make sure it is watching what matters and barking when it sees a genuine intruder, not just a shadow. Today, when those in power enjoy more direct ways of communicating, they also have more ways of distracting the press and casting those shadows.”

—Tom Rosenstiel, journalist, author and director of the American Press Institute, “What the post-Trump debate about the press gets wrong,” Brookings, 2016.

 

• Editorial Comment: Good dogs are still on the scent.

peezpix by Ted Pease

Train Wreck

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“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard