The problem with journalism and how to fix it, according to a Wisconsin professor

There are more formats of news publications now than ever before — digital news, print, blogs, social media and podcasts, to name a few. Each publication has its own mission behind the work, and many have evolved to be politically polarizing. 

But according to Marquette University journalism professor Patrick Johnson, that’s not what Wisconsinites want from their news.

“Wisconsinites actually want a more civically responsible news,” Johnson told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “They want to see news as a civic good. And I think that’s pretty dang cool.”

Johnson drew this conclusion from data from a Marquette University Law School poll earlier this summer that asked Wisconsinites about their news behavior and what they want to see more of, specifically when it comes to local news. Johnson also wrote about his take on the data for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

“All the way back to good old Publick Occurrences, the first newspaper in American history, newspapers were meant to provide information to make people’s lives easier, better and more sustainable,” Johnson said. “Especially with social media, we’ve seen a decline in the news providing what people deem as their ‘civic information’ — who to vote for, where to go to vote, what they need to do to make their communities better, and so on.”

Johnson identified a few key ways that journalists, together with the public, can bolster civic engagement in news media and nurture healthy local journalism. 

Invest

Local news media outlets are losing funding. Congress recently pulled back more than $1 billion in funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which subsequently opted to shut down. This funding cut will be felt in local communities. 

“The more we invest in news at a local level, the more it will improve our local economies,” Johnson said. “We just saw that massive hit with public media. If we’re going to see news as a civic good, we have to have these financial infrastructures in place so that what they’re doing can be replicated, so that we don’t have news deserts, so that people don’t feel unheard or unseen, and so people feel the information they need is being delivered to them.” 

Funding will always be a big factor in what news organizations are able to accomplish, Johnson said. 

Educate

Johnson said that it is vital that both journalists and audiences understand what journalism is, how media outlets work and how journalism can affect audiences. 

“The more folks tune into the national news, the more they assume that is a reflection of their local news,” Johnson said. “I think we need to really contend with this idea of teaching news and media literacy in K-12 institutions.”

Johnson also said that news consumers across the country feel harmed by news media. He said this can be remedied in part by helping people understand how the news works and how it aims to serve the public. 

As for educating journalists, Johnson said colleges and universities need to re-imagine infrastructures to work more directly with local communities and publications. 

Specifically, Johnson wants to see journalism schools borrow strategies from other professional fields, such as engineering and medicine, and develop cooperative learning programs for students to go work in the field. 

“We need to start designing programs where, for example, students take an extra semester and get on the ground experience to learn what it means to impact and engage with a community,” Johnson said. “I know that’s blissful optimism, but I think there is power in the ways in which education can really drastically change how journalism is understood, perceived, and, hopefully, funded.”

Engage

To Johnson, investment and education efforts will ultimately increase community engagement. 

“Journalists can and should spend at least one day a week in the community where they literally sit there, introduce themselves, and say ‘I’m here to listen. What do you think is happening in your community? What do you think we’re not covering? What would you like me to talk about?’” Johnson said.

He also wants to see news organizations hosting events, public listening sessions and interactive conversations between journalists and the community.

As for news consumers, Johnson wants people to have better, more well-rounded “news diets.”

“I know right now it’s really hard for people,” Johnson said. “We’re seeing growth and avoidance. We are seeing people clamoring for positive news, whatever they define that as being, but we have to have people engaging with that information.”

And while he wants journalists and newsrooms to reach out into the community, Johnson says that audiences also have an obligation to interact with journalists. He encourages people to reach out to journalists and newsrooms as well. He wants people to make themselves heard by writing letters to journalists themselves, whether to engage with their recent work, offer suggestions for coverage, or talk about what’s going on in the community. 

“We have to seek a better system — one that improves the way in which we see ourselves, the way in which we see others, and in doing so, creates a more sustainable system,” Johnson said. “We have to want more. Not only of the institution. Not only of journalism. But of ourselves.”