Opus 2019-216: Should-a-Beens: Want Ads

Wouldn’t you like to see it?  “Wanted, Investigative Reporters”

I keep wondering why the wealthy conservatives don’t get their act together and start a news source that stays reliable.  Maybe they could buy a local paper in a medium size town and start to build a following.  Drudge had a moment.  Fox made a try.  Both have gone to the dark side.  The anointed of the internet seem to have a set agenda of manipulating the dialogue.  I think there is a lot of pent up desire for a voice that links facts with truth.

This will require a new type of staff.  I can see three types of employees who will gather the news, each with a different focus.

Class A:  Basement Geeks (BG) to follow links and arrive at truth.

These would be your stereotype computer guy who does not get out much.  It needs to be someone who likes to follow links and look for obscure connections.  He lives to click.  This is necessary because so much of what is presented as news is just boilerplate that comes from a single source and then is spread around so it looks like it a trend.  It doesn’t matter if this guy has piles of pizza boxes around him.  It is okay if he lives of Soylent.  He has the skills.  Let him use them.  Reward him with more Soylent.

Class B:  Street Smarts (SS) to do physical investigation

This is your classical reporter.  He is expected to go out and talk to people, go through physical files, interview, observe and so forth.  This needs to be someone who is the opposite of the basement geek.  He needs to like people and getting around.  Previous experience as a reporter should ring alarm bells but would not necessarily disqualify him.  I understand that somewhere in North Dakota there is still an honest reporter.

Class C:  Office Nerds (ON) to put it all together

This is what used to be an editor.  It could still be an editor but it needs to be someone who is not pre-programed to present only one slant.

Think about how this could effect the public.  I don’t know if you stay in hotels a lot but many of them have piles of USA Today in the lobby for free consumption.  I notice that there are big piles even at the end of the day.  The reason is that they are not worth reading.  They are written at an elementary school level and tend to toe the progressive party line.  If I could find something like USA Today with genuine reporting I would subscribe.  I would buy it even if each page was divided in two columns and one side was liberal. 

We tend to accept the popular wisdom.  We accept that newspapers are doomed.  I keep hearing how books are going out of style.  We are warned that Amazon will put the box stores out of business and the box stores put mom and pop out of business.  It does not have to be.  Books keep being published.  Small stores that provide excellent service still survive.  I think that a newspaper that actually supplied news could do very well.

homo unius libri