Context Clues in the Era of #MeToo https://abs.twimg.com/hashflags... draggable="false" alt="">

Against all odds and much prevailing wisdom, the news audience trusts the news media. Here& #39;s why that& #39;s a problem. https://alexandraerin.substack.com/p/context-clues-in-the-era-of-metoo?r=22t0u&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=twitter">https://alexandraerin.substack.com/p/context...

I have been sleeping on the Defector since they launched, no more than vaguely aware of their existence as a landing pad for Deadspin exiles, but I love the work they are doing under the heading of "Journlismism". For instance, this piece from last month. https://defector.com/police-say-a-lot-of-things/">https://defector.com/police-sa...

My piece for today, linked at the head of this thread, is about how audiences have a lot of implicit trust for the news, whatever "the news" means to them as individuals, and how this is a problem when the media abdicates this responsibility.

Which they do. Frequently.

If I had clicked onto Defector& #39;s Journalismism tag before I finished my newsletter piece, I probably would have wound up quoting this "Police Say" piece because it sums up the problem of "single-sourcing" stories from authority figures very nicely.

There are some special features of the media& #39;s relationship with police that do not apply to their relationship with other flavors of power, but the general principles apply, in terms of what it does, what it says/means, when a reporter goes with a single source.