We remain in the fray of a painful, destructive, and generative period. Journalism is fragile. We can point to a barrage of political and institutional failures, corruption, technology’s vulnerability to manipulation, greed. Consider that truth itself
— the stock in trade of journalism — has become a weapon in an exhausting blood sport, driving division, violence, and fear. Weaponizing good journalism, and the complicated truths it seeks, presents serious structural challenges for the profession the world over.
In this bleak landscape, where is opportunity? At the end of an evolutionary cycle of consolidation and commodification of journalism, the industry is ready to give way to fresh, inspired forms of experimentation.
Let’s consider a new poetics of journalism.
Like journalists, poets are keen observers of daily life. A good poet searches for the unknown, waiting for a turn toward expansive uncertainty, a cue to describe for a reader an abiding mystery, to capture the wonder and bewilderment of day to day living. Both journalists and poets cultivate awareness: Poets listening for what isn’t easily perceived in the present moment, while a good journalist concretizes perception; crafts details to be checked for accuracy, clear of bias. A disciplined journalist seek facts, counts words, seeks conclusion. The quality of a piece of writing is determined by a set of proscribed rules and constraints. A good poet is disciplined, too, but with greater freedom to use words and formations to follow an inspiration.
Are there lessons today’s beleaguered journalists can glean from the poets? Is it possible for mainstream journalism to loosen the tether of certainty to reflect the chaos of what we don’t know, can’t see, or yet understand? Could this be an antidote to the world of fear we now live in?
Three seeds toward a new poetics of journalism:
I’ve been thinking about what endures. In 125 years, when someone comes looking for us, what will they find? The hardscape — granite monuments, bridges, even mountains and rivers — eventually dissolve or give way to something unrecognizable, unverifiable. Journalists as anthropologists, social scientists, forensic experts, and poets leave a discoverable trace for those want to understand where they’ve come from. Let’s be generous with what we leave for them.
I hope for a unitive journalism, grounded in the known and open to the unknown. Brought together by this new journalism, people may have less fear, share more wonderment at the abiding mystery of being alive.
The vanguards of a new journalism are already at work in local public media newsrooms, as independent film and audio makers, at organizations and schools intent on expanding representation of whose stories are told and how. We must encourage them to experiment, to challenge the normative standards of journalism, and affirm their incalculably important role in discovering new forms to express the human experience long after we are gone.
Sue Schardt‘s transformative work in public media, as a DJ and musician, aims for the greater good. She’s anticipating the release of a new film in 2023.
We remain in the fray of a painful, destructive, and generative period. Journalism is fragile. We can point to a barrage of political and institutional failures, corruption, technology’s vulnerability to manipulation, greed. Consider that truth itself
— the stock in trade of journalism — has become a weapon in an exhausting blood sport, driving division, violence, and fear. Weaponizing good journalism, and the complicated truths it seeks, presents serious structural challenges for the profession the world over.
In this bleak landscape, where is opportunity? At the end of an evolutionary cycle of consolidation and commodification of journalism, the industry is ready to give way to fresh, inspired forms of experimentation.
Let’s consider a new poetics of journalism.
Like journalists, poets are keen observers of daily life. A good poet searches for the unknown, waiting for a turn toward expansive uncertainty, a cue to describe for a reader an abiding mystery, to capture the wonder and bewilderment of day to day living. Both journalists and poets cultivate awareness: Poets listening for what isn’t easily perceived in the present moment, while a good journalist concretizes perception; crafts details to be checked for accuracy, clear of bias. A disciplined journalist seek facts, counts words, seeks conclusion. The quality of a piece of writing is determined by a set of proscribed rules and constraints. A good poet is disciplined, too, but with greater freedom to use words and formations to follow an inspiration.
Are there lessons today’s beleaguered journalists can glean from the poets? Is it possible for mainstream journalism to loosen the tether of certainty to reflect the chaos of what we don’t know, can’t see, or yet understand? Could this be an antidote to the world of fear we now live in?
Three seeds toward a new poetics of journalism:
I’ve been thinking about what endures. In 125 years, when someone comes looking for us, what will they find? The hardscape — granite monuments, bridges, even mountains and rivers — eventually dissolve or give way to something unrecognizable, unverifiable. Journalists as anthropologists, social scientists, forensic experts, and poets leave a discoverable trace for those want to understand where they’ve come from. Let’s be generous with what we leave for them.
I hope for a unitive journalism, grounded in the known and open to the unknown. Brought together by this new journalism, people may have less fear, share more wonderment at the abiding mystery of being alive.
The vanguards of a new journalism are already at work in local public media newsrooms, as independent film and audio makers, at organizations and schools intent on expanding representation of whose stories are told and how. We must encourage them to experiment, to challenge the normative standards of journalism, and affirm their incalculably important role in discovering new forms to express the human experience long after we are gone.
Sue Schardt‘s transformative work in public media, as a DJ and musician, aims for the greater good. She’s anticipating the release of a new film in 2023.
Brian Moritz Rebuilding the news bundle
Amethyst J. Davis The slight of the great contraction
Alex Perry New paths to transparency without Twitter
Cindy Royal Yes, journalists should learn to code, but…
Shanté Cosme The answer to “quiet quitting” is radical empathy
Jarrad Henderson Video editing will help people understand the media they consume
Errin Haines Journalists on the campaign trail mend trust with the public
Esther Kezia Thorpe Subscription pressures force product innovation
Wilson Liévano Diaspora journalism takes the next step
Pia Frey Publishers start polling their users at scale
Sarah Alvarez Dream bigger or lose out
Peter Bale Rising costs force more digital innovation
Anita Varma Journalism prioritizes the basic need for survival
Daniel Trielli Trust in news will continue to fall. Just look at Brazil.
Jesse Holcomb Buffeted, whipped, bullied, pulled
Laura E. Davis The year we embrace the robots — and ourselves
Lisa Heyamoto The independent news industry gets a roadmap to sustainability
Mary Walter-Brown and Tristan Loper Mission-driven metrics become our North Star
Kirstin McCudden We’ll codify protection of journalism and newsgathering
Karina Montoya More reporters on the antitrust beat
Jody Brannon We’ll embrace policy remedies
Raney Aronson-Rath Journalists will band together to fight intimidation
Jonas Kaiser Rejecting the “free speech” frame
Eric Holthaus As social media fragments, marginalized voices gain more power
Ryan Nave Citizen journalism, but make it equitable
Michael Schudson Journalism gets more and more difficult
Cory Bergman The AI content flood
Surya Mattu Data journalists learn from photojournalists
Jessica Maddox Journalists keep getting manipulated by internet culture
Nicholas Diakopoulos Journalists productively harness generative AI tools
Dominic-Madori Davis Everyone finally realizes the need for diverse voices in tech reporting
Christoph Mergerson The rot at the core of the news business
A.J. Bauer Covering the right wrong
Sue Cross Thinking and acting collectively to save the news
Upasna Gautam Technology that performs at the speed of news
Elite Truong In platform collapse, an opportunity for community
Joshua P. Darr Local to live, wire to wither
Andrew Donohue We’ll find out whether journalism can, indeed, save democracy
Ståle Grut Your newsroom experiences a Midjourney-gate, too
Sarabeth Berman Nonprofit local news shows that it can scale
Ben Werdmuller The internet is up for grabs again
Priyanjana Bengani Partisan local news networks will collaborate
Sue Robinson Engagement journalism will have to confront a tougher reality
Alex Sujong Laughlin Credit where it’s due
Tamar Charney Flux is the new stability
Zizi Papacharissi Platforms are over
Danielle K. Brown and Kathleen Searles DEI efforts must consider mental health and online abuse
Nicholas Jackson There will be launches — and we’ll keep doing the work
Cari Nazeer and Emily Goligoski News organizations step up their support for caregivers
Kaitlin C. Miller Harassment in journalism won’t get better, but we’ll talk about it more openly
Jakob Moll Journalism startups will think beyond English
Emily Nonko Incarcerated reporters get more bylines
Rachel Glickhouse Humanizing newsrooms will be a badge of honor
Ryan Kellett Airline-like loyalty programs try to tie down news readers
Eric Ulken Generative AI brings wrongness at scale
Jim Friedlich Local journalism steps up to the challenge of civic coverage
Delano Massey The industry shakes its imposter syndrome
Sam Gregory Synthetic media forces us to understand how media gets made
Eric Nuzum A focus on people instead of power
Tim Carmody Newsletter writers need a new ethics
Anna Nirmala News organizations get new structures
S. Mitra Kalita “Everything sucks. Good luck to you.”
Matt Rasnic More newsroom workers turn to organized labor
Emma Carew Grovum The year to resist forgetting about diversity
Mael Vallejo More threats to press freedom across the Americas
Jacob L. Nelson Despite it all, people will still want to be journalists
Stefanie Murray The year U.S. media stops screwing around and becomes pro-democracy
Jaden Amos TikTok personality journalists continue to rise
Megan Lucero and Shirish Kulkarni The future of journalism is not you
Mariana Moura Santos A woman who speaks is a woman who changes the world
Basile Simon Towards supporting criminal accountability
Sarah Stonbely Growth in public funding for news and information at the state and local levels
Jennifer Brandel AI couldn’t care less. Journalists will care more.
Mar Cabra The inevitable mental health revolution
Snigdha Sur Newsrooms get nimble in a recession
Sumi Aggarwal Smart newsrooms will prioritize board development
Ayala Panievsky It’s time for PR for journalism
Susan Chira Equipping local journalism
Don Day The news about the news is bad. I’m optimistic.
Joe Amditis AI throws a lifeline to local publishers
Nicholas Thompson The year AI actually changes the media business
Jenna Weiss-Berman The economic downturn benefits the podcasting industry. (No, really!)
An Xiao Mina Journalism in a time of permacrisis
Sarah Marshall A web channel strategy won’t be enough
Tre'vell Anderson Continued culpability in anti-trans campaigns
Doris Truong Workers demand to be paid what the job is worth
Al Lucca Digital news design gets interesting again
Joni Deutsch Podcast collaboration — not competition — breeds excellence
Peter Sterne AI enters the newsroom
Alexandra Svokos Working harder to reach audiences where they are
Janet Haven ChatGPT and the future of trust
Victor Pickard The year journalism and capitalism finally divorce
Barbara Raab More journalism funders will take more risks
Taylor Lorenz The “creator economy” will be astroturfed
Jessica Clark Open discourse retrenches
Parker Molloy We’ll reach new heights of moral panic
Sue Schardt Toward a new poetics of journalism
Larry Ryckman We’ll work together with our competitors
Laxmi Parthasarathy Unlocking the silent demand for international journalism
Richard Tofel The press might get better at vetting presidential candidates
Gordon Crovitz The year advertisers stop funding misinformation
Kavya Sukumar Belling the cat: The rise of independent fact-checking at scale
Dannagal G. Young Stop rewarding elite performances of identity threat
Martina Efeyini Talk to Gen Z. They’re the experts of Gen Z.
Sam Guzik AI will start fact-checking. We may not like the results.
Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau More of the same
Walter Frick Journalists wake up to the power of prediction markets
Kerri Hoffman Podcasting goes local
J. Siguru Wahutu American journalism reckons with its colonialist tendencies
Alan Henry A reckoning with why trust in news is so low
Dana Lacey Tech will screw publishers over
Julia Beizer News fatigue shows us a clear path forward
Gabe Schneider Well-funded journalism leaders stop making disparate pay
Jennifer Choi and Jonathan Jackson Funders finally bet on next-generation news entrepreneurs
Christina Shih Shared values move from nice-to-haves to essentials
Brian Stelter Finding new ways to reach news avoiders
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Well-being will become a core tenet of journalism
David Skok Renewed interest in human-powered reporting
Alexandra Borchardt The year of the climate journalism strategy
David Cohn AI made this prediction
Burt Herman The year AI truly arrives — and with it the reckoning
Kathy Lu We need emotionally agile newsroom leaders
Cassandra Etienne Local news fellowships will help fight newsroom inequities
Josh Schwartz The AI spammers are coming
Mauricio Cabrera It’s no longer about audiences, it’s about communities
Ryan Gantz “I’m sorry, but I’m a large language model”
Johannes Klingebiel The innovation team, R.I.P.
Molly de Aguiar and Mandy Van Deven Narrative change trend brings new money to journalism
Bill Grueskin Local news will come to rely on AI
Amy Schmitz Weiss Journalism education faces a crossroads
Gina Chua The traditional story structure gets deconstructed
Hillary Frey Death to the labor-intensive memo for prospective hires
Francesco Zaffarano There is no end of “social media”
Anika Anand Independent news businesses lead the way on healthy work cultures
Michael W. Wagner The backlash against pro-democracy reporting is coming
Julia Angwin Democracies will get serious about saving journalism
John Davidow A year of intergenerational learning
Andrew Losowsky Journalism realizes the replacement for Twitter is not a new Twitter
Joanne McNeil Facebook and the media kiss and make up
Mario García More newsrooms go mobile-first
Leezel Tanglao Community partnerships drive better reporting
Kaitlyn Wells We’ll prioritize media literacy for children
Nikki Usher This is the year of the RSS reader. (Really!)
Khushbu Shah Global reporting will suffer
Anthony Nadler Confronting media gerrymandering
Simon Galperin Philanthropy stops investing in corporate media
Paul Cheung More news organizations will realize they are in the business of impact, not eyeballs
Janelle Salanga Journalists work from a place of harm reduction
Felicitas Carrique and Becca Aaronson News product goes from trend to standard
Masuma Ahuja Journalism starts working for and with its communities
Juleyka Lantigua Newsrooms recognize women of color as the canaries in the coal mine
Moreno Cruz Osório Brazilian journalism turns wounds into action
Ariel Zirulnick Journalism doubles down on user needs