What's Wrong with Trending News?

Why is Journalism Important?

It Matters a Lot Really

NPR reported yesterday there are problems with having algorithms select news content for you. You may recall that Face Book fired its news curators after charges that the curators were biased toward liberal views. Congress got upset. Remember that congress is run by Republicans and they didn't like reports from The Times, The Post and the BBC.  An algorithm is now selecting stories. Instead of real news...something else is up there.

NPR's Aarti Shahani says about a million viewers clicked on a story from a dubious news source that claimed former Fox Commentator Megyn Kelly is a supporter of Hilary Clinton, and that is the reason she got fired by Fox. The story is false, but hundreds of thousands of people clicked on the story and believed it.

Part of the problem is ours. We seek and have friends that think like us and generally agree with our point of view. Social media enforces our opinions by selecting posts for us through algorithms that we 'like' further reinforcing our point of view. 

Trending is not Journalism. Accuracy and fairness in the news are extremely important. Otherwise we will be unable to ferret out the truth. Political candidates will often stretch the truth or omit context. Real  journalist do their job when they dig deeper.

Recently Donald Trump, in an effort to attract black voters, quoted unemployment figures for minority youth that were not even close to accurate. His devout followers believe him. They share his assertions on line with like minded people further cementing their belief in false information.

Trump's numbers are just plain wrong. Of course, Trump wants the facts to fit his narrative that the US is falling apart and only he can fix it. I wanted to know more. The numbers seemed out of whack. I dug deeper.

The actual youth unemployment figures are below as published by the Washington Post.

The economy has changed and become stronger since 2012. According to Pew's research, the economy is no longer the number on issue with voters. Security and safety in the face of growing violence is. Pew says The economy still is important, just not the top concern. Here's part of report published by NPR...

In 2012:

• Jobs. The unemployment rate was a painful 8.1 percent in August, 2012. Many voters feared that as the Affordable Care Act phased in, the job market would get even worse.
• Gas prices. The average price of gas in August, 2012, was $3.69 a gallon, the second highest average on record.
• Federal deficit. As the fiscal year was wrapping up, the annual deficit was $1.1 trillion, or 6.7 percent of GDP.

Since then, a lot has changed in those three areas. Here's how things look...

In 2016:

• Jobs. The unemployment rate has plunged to 4.9 percent.
• Gas prices. Gas prices have tumbled this year, and now average around $2.12 a gallon.
• Federal deficit. For fiscal 2016, the deficit will be $590 billion, or 3.2 percent of GDP.

As the report points out, serious issues remain, not the least of which is the growing income inequality. If you want to know more about the growing anger over income inequality, look at the success of the Trump and Sanders campaigns. And, once you go there, dig deeper to discover the reasons behind the disparity and what might be done to solve this issue.

A serious commitment to finding the truth leads an informed electorate. Search for it. Use it. Support it.

News Coverage - Going Deeper

Looking For Depth

There are stories that lend themselves to in depth coverage. In depth coverage is something public radio listeners expect. They want to look beyond the headlines. These stories also lend themselves to continuing coverage.

After the crash of 2008, listeners looked to public radio and television to give a broader perspective to the great recession. Because of the slow recovery and other issues, this story is still with us.

Disappointing Numbers

Lower than expected job numbers came out last Friday. The number of new jobs was about half of what was expected. NPR reports that 126,000 new jobs were created. Experts were thinking the economy would add 245,000 new jobs in March.

March Employment Report Shows Growth — But Disappointing Numbers

For U.S. Workers, The March Of Progress Slows Down

Contributing Factors

Some are saying the weather had a lot to do with the disappointing numbers. Because of the series of storms that rolled through in February and March...the construction industry took a hit. So did oil drilling.

Taking the Long View

There might be something deeper according to Doug Handler, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight. The economy has been expanding for six years. The thought is this might be a cooling in the economy after a period of sustained growth. Looking further at the longer trend, unemployment over the past year has improved from 6.6% to 5.5% in one year. March may have been a blip...or it may be the tip of the iceberg. Either way, the story lends itself to coverage that goes beyond the headlines. It can go beyond the two in depth stories linked to above.

Something Bigger

As I look through the story ideas below, it occurs to me I'm defining APM's Marketplace's Sustainability Desk. or Marketplace itself. I'm also thinking in terms of using station resources to create something that will have a lasting impact on the listeners we serve. There needs to be a place where overarching stories come to live. A program where these big issues can be discussed. A destination program where we can go deeper. You might be thinking, "No way. We don't have the resources." Think again, You don't have to go it alone. There are partnerships and alliances that can be created to find the resources.

Depth

There are other issues that are effected and effect the employment figures including:

• Unemployment in your region
• The real jobless rate.
• Have people given up?
• Underemployment/Temporary employment.
• The working poor.
• Discrimination. (Estimates of the cost of racism reach as high as two trillion dollars a year.) 
• Unemployment and race 
• Sexism.    
• Ageism.
• Faithism.
• Low wage jobs.
• Job training.
• SNAP benefits.
• Unemployment and social services.
• Unemployment benefits.

These are just some of the issues that could be explored, but I think you get the idea. Jobs matter to our listeners. The economy matters to our listeners. I think we owe it to them to cover this with more than the headlines or just one three-and-a-half minute feature.