Generally agree, but the “news” isn’t meant to offer solutions, or fix anything.
Is it meant to be a fear firehose and present only discord and strife?
My point being - says who? The “news” is meant to keep people informed and that includes solutions. And it doesn’t dictate everything be a goddamned shitshow 98% of the time. Which is what local news inevitably is, no matter where “local” is.
“who what where when how”, etc. that’s the point of news. Tell the people that. Save the rest for the opinion pages, and don’t muddy the two.
Detail pieces from experts are awesome content, and a happy home for solutions. The news is the retelling of events and situations, as appropriate for the scope of the news org. (Local news vs global news)
I’m not saying opinion articles or solution discussions shouldn’t exist. I’m saying they should be separate.
Is it meant to be a fear firehose and present only discord and strife?
My point being - says who? The “news” is meant to keep people informed and that includes solutions. And it doesn’t dictate everything be a goddamned shitshow 98% of the time. Which is what local news inevitably is, no matter where “local” is.
“who what where when how”, etc. that’s the point of news. Tell the people that. Save the rest for the opinion pages, and don’t muddy the two.
Detail pieces from experts are awesome content, and a happy home for solutions. The news is the retelling of events and situations, as appropriate for the scope of the news org. (Local news vs global news)
I’m not saying opinion articles or solution discussions shouldn’t exist. I’m saying they should be separate.
Are you suggesting opinion can be removed completely from news stories? Are the story choices themselves outside of opinion?
Well, no and no. The real reason local news is a horror story fiesta every night is because good news is boring. It doesn’t sell.
I’m not saying one entity can’t do both, but “news” should be cold information about happenings.
“Opinion/editorial” is the follow up analysis about facts.