Commentary
Op-Ed: The Importance of Local journalism matters more now than ever before
In the two years since I graduated from college, my social media timeline has been filled with gut-wrenching announcements of journalists across the country being laid off from publications big and small. I was trained to talk to sources, how to craft compelling leads, and pitch stories, but no one prepared me for how to deal with the unstable market what this career path would entail.
By Magaly Muñoz
In the two years since I graduated from college, my social media timeline has been filled with gut-wrenching announcements of journalists across the country being laid off from publications big and small.
I was trained to talk to sources, how to craft compelling leads, and pitch stories, but no one prepared me for how to deal with the unstable market what this career path would entail.
I watched small organizations in the Midwest vanish into oblivion, and more recently, witnessed legacy papers layoff staff in an attempt to stay afloat. The Los Angeles Times staff, a team I had once dreamed of joining, suffered a major blow when they laid off over 20% of their writers and editors in January.
If a legacy newspaper can’t keep their newsroom from slowly dying off, what does that imply for everyone else?
As I found myself spiraling into a rabbit hole of despair questioning my choice of such a rollercoaster of a career, I remembered that it’s times like these that force us to adapt because it’s not enough to just let the worst pass us by.
Yes, the future of journalism can look bleak to those of us hoping to stay in the industry for a long time, but it should also serve as a reminder that there are audiences out there relying on us to continue delivering the news that affects their daily lives.
The disparities amongst those holding all the cards and those who get crushed in the process of their choices is only growing, and it is up to journalists nationwide to go deep into the communities that they are in to expose these inequalities.
Who else is going to hold power to account when they think no one is watching? And in the Bay Area, there’s plenty of people to keep an eye on.
But news is not just the constant tragic event or political scandal, though it is important to stay on top of it. It’s also the uplifting stories that remind people why they should remain hopeful that things will get better.
I’ve had the privilege of interviewing and writing about young Black athletes with Olympic dreams, community based organizations fighting for the rights of those who don’t feel empowered enough on their own, and businesses who just want to bring a little love back into the community.
It’s these stories that stand as powerful and significant as the reporting that may not always be pleasant to write about.
In an era of social media and the quick spread of misinformation, especially in an important election year, we have to work twice as hard to make sure that our readers are getting the facts and are not being persuaded by clickbait articles suggesting otherwise.
But as journalists, it’s crucial that we keep fighting for ourselves and for conditions that allow us to keep doing the work that we do. We all deserve stability in these unprecedented times.
We need our audience to stay with and trust us, even when it seems like things are going off course. We will persevere, even when all else feels like it’s failing.
