Don’t be rude, and don’t ask the wrong questions.
That’s what I learned from Donald Trump’s recent press conference, anyway.
As a bird, I know that it sucks to have your feathers ruffled, and it’s safe to say that’s what Buzzfeed and CNN have done to the Donald.
But it was Buzzfeed that really stirred up the (as of press time) president-elect’s nest. It published, in full, a 35-page intelligence dossier, which claimed that Russian agents had incriminating information about Trump. The problem was that Buzzfeed didn’t verify any of the claims in the dossier.
And that’s what led Trump to forcefully denounce Buzzfeed and CNN reporters at the press conference, calling them “fake news” and a “disgrace.”
This derision and hostility toward the press has been a hallmark of Trump’s campaign, during which he bullied individual reporters and wrote off entire networks and newspapers that asked tough questions.
This might have something to do with Buzzfeed moving forward with such an irresponsible story. The online news site is definitely “new media,” continuing efforts to make a name for itself in hard news after coming to fame by way of listicles and quizzes—but playing fast and loose with standard journalistic ethics is a serious blind spot.
Whether or not what Buzzfeed shared on its website is true, the public official at the heart of the issue still needs to answer questions about it. The press has to keep asking hard questions. We’re the ones reporting on the problems; it’s what we do, and hating or blaming us just makes matters worse.
Ignoring ongoing problems only leads to even bigger ones—just ask the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office about the county’s jail.
To be fair, the Sheriff’s Office has been vocal about many of the ongoing problems with the aging facility—these problems were the impetus for the Northern Branch Jail project. The new jail’s final plan did not include a rehabilitation center for inmates with mental illnesses, the need for which is detailed in this week’s cover story.
This is a big problem, because as Sheriff Bill Brown put it years ago, the Santa Barbara County Jail is the county’s “de facto mental health institution.” We need a residential mental treatment facility, so why didn’t we get one?
We come again to the matter of letting journalists do their job when reporting on an issue. When the Sun covered the problems with the Santa Barbara County Jail in 2011, we were allowed to bring our photojournalist on the tour. For this story, we didn’t get the same courtesy, and the Sheriff’s Office provided the images.
Why? Well, apparently if they let our photographer in, then everybody will want to come in and take photos. Imagine that: Journalists, doing their job, reporting on a public facility! We’re not trying to publish unsubstantiated PDF files all willy-nilly on our website. We’re just trying to get the story.
And that matters. For example, the Sheriff’s Office didn’t send us any images of the cots lining the floor of the overcrowded bunk areas, which our reporter noticed and detailed in the text of the story.
Keep in mind for the future: With all the fingers pointed at “biased media” or “fake news,” don’t neglect how state, federal, or even private sector officials try and control information themselves. Everyone—from the commander in chief to the local sheriff—would prefer you to look at things their way.
Meanwhile, we journalists will continue to dig, verify, ask questions, and ruffle feathers.
The Canary has a special sweater for bad feather days. Send your thoughts to [email protected].
