One of the old sayings in the newspaper business is you never want yourself or the publication you work for to be part of the news. But in this day of hyper-partisanship and daily attacks on press credibility, it’s hard to avoid. The news is the news, whether it likes it or not. One of the more non-partisan things that many on the right and left have been wringing their hands about lately is the idea of fake news. The President labels all news he doesn’t like as fake, accusing major news outlets, from CNN to the Washington Post, as part of a conspiracy to damage his reputation. The left is worried about well-documented fake news campaigns that have plagued social media – a phenomenon that came to a head in the run up to the 2016 presidential election. That climate has led to significant damage to the credibility of news outlets, which is problematic. Credibility is the most important resource journalists have. A Knight Foundation report earlier this year found that 73 percent of Americans think false information spread online is the biggest source of biased news. Only 50 percent think the public is able to interpret that bias as such. But in addition to the “fake news” problem, there is a growing sense that perhaps we have too much news. It’s never been easier to read or watch news than it is today. In a recent, compelling essay on the online publishing platform Medium, media entrepreneur Rob Wijnberg made the case that real news, its volume and its emphasis on the sensational and recency, were a bigger problem than fake news. The issue, said Wijnberg, who is launching a new media enterprise called “The Correspondent” this month, is that the news is far too focused on reacting to events that are sensational and immediate, and over concerned about beating others to press or on air. It’s created an environment in which the public is at best simply overwhelmed by news and more often, is set into a state of unwarranted panic. “In contrast to fake news, which is misleading because it’s simply untrue, real news misleads us in a more subtle and fundamental way. It gives us a deeply skewed view of probability, history, progress, development, and relevance,” Wijnberg wrote, “In short, our news obsession takes away from what journalism as a practice is supposed to be about: helping everyone who is part of the public understand the world well enough to join in public discussion about what is to be done.” This is not to say that news outlets aren’t doing remarkable work and adding to our understanding every day. I think newspapers in particular have led the way with expansive reporting that can help us understand our world. But there should be an evaluation of a news cycle that is quick to report the tweets of celebrities as if its news, particularly when we can’t cover local state houses or township supervisor board meetings. It’s always good to stop and make sure we who report the news are doing all we can to better inform our audience.

Pete Mazzaccaro