Over decades at the Journal Inquirer and recently writing from one step outside the arena of daily news coverage, Chris Powell has always been willing to say the unpopular thing and bring up the difficult issue. He has never used his writing as a golden ticket into the circles of the powerful and influential. He frankly doesn’t care about that sort of thing.
And so, over the Christmas holiday, when other news organizations were reporting with routine about a $3.1 million state grant to Connecticut Public Media, Powell asked how the grant will influence Connecticut Public’s coverage of state government. In particular, how will WNPR cover the Lamont administration, which ultimately gave the go ahead for the grant?
It is a fair question, but it is worth pointing out that the rules of journalism have changed dramatically. The best we as consumers of news can hope for is full disclosure when it comes to funding sources and built-in points of view. Full disclosure gives us the power to decide whether a news outlet is offering fair or biased coverage or is pulling its punches.
It is also true that many in what used to be called “the news business” now describe themselves first as “story-tellers,” which tends to lower the bar. If your goal is to tell stories, then your role as a check on government power is not the most important part of your mission.
Speaking of not being afraid to offend, Powell writes this week on how local television news covers storms.
