Read some counterpoint on the transgender issue. Important media moves (albeit ones that are not that sexy). Join others and speak up!
The transgender issue from another perspective.
I won't step on the author's op ed below, save to tell you that reading widely is important. Whether you agree or no, I think it's important to weigh your views in contrast with those that you might disagree with. If for no other reason than to understand the counterarguments to yours, you should hear what your opponents would say.
Presented in that spirit.
https://coloradosun.com/2023/11/07/guest-opinion-transgender-colorado-michigan/
Important if not that sexy.
Stories like the below don't generate a lot of buzz outside of those that follow media closely.
I don't blame anyone for that. On it's face it is pretty dull.
Dull or not, however, I think things like this matter and the reason why is related to who and how your news is brought to you.
A common thing I read and hear is about how the left has done a masterful job of building up their influence over a long time and quite deeply. That is, they got in at the ground level in many things and thus worked their way into having a substantial influence in many fields. Academia and local politics are commonly cited examples.
While this may or may not reflect reality well (a pattern like seeing mostly left-leaning professors in social sciences could just as well be explained by a self-selection process), the fact is that the end product stands, and it has important consequences.
I wonder if I see a similar dynamic happening with the press, in particular with a growing numbers of non profit newsrooms I see creeping up and then combining.
As media consumers increasingly fracture and seek out news outlets that better reflect what they want to read, news outlets are seeing their audiences shrink. The more vulnerable local outlets are either facing financial non-viability or being bought up and gutted by (what reporters characterize as blood-sucking) hedge funds.
To true believers in the media, the kind that would, as the Sun hints at, describe themselves as essential to democracy, this is a nightmare (and not just a personal one). Many, however, have struck out on their own and found refuge in partnerships and/or becoming non profits. Often these groups find help from foundations and groups like the ones mentioned in the Sun article.
While steps like these can remove the problem of a shutdown or buy-out, they do leave questions remaining, at least for me, those in the media don't ever seem to see this as anything other than positive.
One problem with consolidation is uniformity. I can already hear monocles dropping from the eyes of journalists, editors, and paper owners at the mere hint that perhaps working with or for someone would influence their coverage, but I think it happens. It can happen even without cynical accusations about needing to please sponsors or corporate bosses.
I don't think I can emphasize enough how much control editors can have over what gets published (or not) and how things are reported. Top down pressure from a few onto several papers means that, even if they're a supposedly "local" paper, they'll start to look the same and cover the same things.
So, it'll be a local take on transgender-friendly patio furniture in one town and a local take on how transgendered people struggle to find furniture to fit their needs in a town across the state.
Further, when a group becomes a non profit you and I (to a larger or lesser extent) help to fund the group. Will we get accountability from these non profit newsrooms? Will they share who donates? Will they refuse to take dark money even if it's pass-through dark money? Lastly, will they, as the law requires, be scrupulous in avoiding political action?**
That remains to be seen. Outlets like the Sun have promised to be transparent in who donates (as an example of what this entails, I can tell you from correspondence with the editor Larry Ryckman that they've promised to tell us the larger donors but not likely down to the level of, say, each individual $5 donation).
I can tell you too that one trick I see a fair bit of is to have a group like the National Trust for Local News (the group that the Sun handed ownership of its portfolio of local papers too--again, see the article for more details) help fund things, and note their donations, but not who donates to the National Trust. If this carries shades of Sixteen Thirty Fund giving its dark money to other groups to spread around, you and I think alike.
This is and will continue to be an interest of mine akin to watching guns and public health, so expect more updates as I learn and see more.
**And don't say it can't or never happens. As I wrote about when discussing the Colorado non profit Connect for Health Colorado, non profits do indeed get involved in politics.
https://coloradosun.com/2023/11/01/colorado-sun-community-media-donates-shares/
Join others and speak up!
Shortly after the election where Prop HH was defeated I saw the article linked below.
It's about a group that is forming to fight the increased attention short-term rental owners are getting from the state. Unwanted attention--the kind that results in increased taxes and fees.
I don't own a short term rental. You may or may not. Whether you do or not is immaterial for this post.
What is material is the fact that they are organizing.
If the defeat of Prop HH tells us anything, it's that by organizing, by speaking up, by getting the word out, we can push back on the increasingly progressive and costly policy that's coming out of the Democrat-controlled capitol.
And it also tells us that sitting around and merely complaining won't get that done.
I don't care whether or not short term rentals or property tax are a passion. They don't have to be. Pick something. A big or small issue. A local or statewide issue.
Then figure out a way to get involved and make yourself heard. If you're moved to do so and unsure how to start, please ask. I can't claim to know everything but I do know lots of smart people and can connect you.
https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2023/11/09/colorado-airbnb-vrbo-rentals-tax-jared-polis