Three Village Journalism: Are the Watchdogs Barking?

This is my first blog post for Patch, and I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts in this forum.  I’ll be writing mostly about journalism and society.

I’m going to start by looking at how well the news media of the Three Villages serve their readers. Such a critique may seem ungracious for my first post, but the question has particular currency. On June 9, the Federal Communications Commission issued a report on the state of local news, “The Information Needs of Communities: The changing media landscape in a broadband age.”

The report examined the dramatic shifts over the two decades since the Internet changed everything about the news industry. Its key finding: Despite the vibrancy of today’s media landscape—“faster and cheaper distribution networks, fewer barriers to entry, and more ways to consume information”—there are “serious problems” as well.

“In many communities,” the report continues, “we now face a shortage of local, professional, accountability reporting. This is likely to lead to the kinds of problems that are, not surprisingly, associated with a lack of accountability—more government waste, more local corruption, less effective schools, and other serious community problems. The independent watchdog function that the Founding Fathers envisioned for journalism – going so far as to call it crucial to a healthy democracy—is in some cases at risk at the local level.”

How well do the news media of the Three Villages rate in public accountability journalism? Are the local watchdogs barking?

In my view, not loudly enough.

Much of the local news reported on Patch, by my former students at The Times Beacon Record (where I in journalism), and by my former colleagues at Newsday, is reactive: what happened at a meeting, what the police did in the past week, the results of an election. Nearly everything else is a feature story: this year’s valedictorian, a local festival, a restaurant review. The reactive stories are important, sure, and are a part of public accountability. The local reporter at the school board or the zoning board represents the public, reporting back about officials’ doings and decisions to those who couldn’t or didn’t attend. And features reveal the texture of life in the community.

What are missing are stories that dig.

I looked back at the 2011 coverage of the public institution with the biggest day-to-day impact on the lives of local residents, in terms of tax burden, if nothing else: the Three Village School District. I was unable to find a single story in Patch, the Times Beacon Record or Newsday that went beyond reaction or feature. There was nothing of what journalists call enterprise reporting, the kind of story that springs from a reporter’s observation, curiosity and shoe-leather reporting rather than from an event or press release.

An enterprising reporter might have dug into the 25 largest contracts awarded by the school board in the past five years to see if interesting patterns or relationships emerged. Or someone might have examined the much-vaunted science research program at Ward Melville High School to see whether any groups of students were favored or discouraged from participating. A young reporter could have shed some light on the Three Village drug scene, even if it resulted in a less-than-idyllic portrayal of the community. Special education has sometimes been used as a dumping ground for troubled minority children; is that happening here?

There are reasons why local media shy away from enterprise stories like these. First, lack of time and personnel. The constant stream of events seems to demand reactive stories and keeps reporters from time-consuming investigations or even from following up on potential enterprise stories that come out of meetings.

Second, money. Tight budgets, especially during an advertising downturn, make hiring additional staff impossible. And news organizations that depend on a few major local advertisers may feel pressure to keep their reports positive.

Third, the web of community relationships. Being a community journalist poses challenges. What if one’s friend or fellow congregant or tennis partner gets in trouble? A city editor once told me he wouldn’t join anything in his community, “not even the temple brotherhood.”

“What if one of my temple brothers was arrested?” he said. “I’d be conflicted.”

In contrast, a local editor from elsewhere on Long Island told me she pulled back from digging into a possible land-use scandal because a school-board member was involved. Her piece simply skimmed the surface. The Long Island Press got hold of the story and wrote a searing, in-depth piece.

I know many of the reporters and editors who cover the Three Villages. I like and respect them. And I want them to do more, to compete even harder to see who can best serve the community not only by reporting on meetings and events, not only by writing well-crafted, interesting features, but also by digging into the institutions that shape our lives, finding the evidence, asking the tough questions, bringing what’s hidden to light.