​‘Spotlight’ on Newspapers; Do People Read Them?

This is how the public learns stuff

What a wonderful night for journalism, at the end of the Academy Awards, to see “Spotlight” honored as best picture. The film shows how the Boston Globe pursued a history of abuse by priests in the region.

Yes, journalism is still being practiced at some of the surviving journals in the United States, the ones that devote precious time and money and staff to finding stuff out, and publishing it.

However, my pride in colleagues is tempered by the realization that not enough people read the information – and opinion – in the surviving fringe of American journalism.

I occasionally talk at colleges and high schools and generally get blank looks from students when I ask how many people read newspapers.

Even on line? I ask. Some nod yes, but cannot give examples. They like things that jump around. But apparently so do their elders.

A frightening swath of Americans seem to think Donald Trump knows how the world works. Because people do not read newspapers, in print or on line, they do not know that he is generally regarded with a shrug and a smile in New York, the town that knows him best. Oh, that guy.

This reality was brought home recently by two articles in The New York Times about Trump’s reputation (marginal) in New York real estate circles, and how he bled investors in a golf resort in Florida.

This is who the guy is; this is how he operates. But unless people delve into the details – that is to say, read – they will never know. This is where we are going.

Here are two stories most of America will never read:
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/nyregion/donald-trump-nyc.html?_r=0
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/sports/golf/at-trump-club-in-florida-some-members-want-their-money-back.html
 
Now Trump is threatening to suppress newspapers when he becomes President. Perhaps he will send his Brown Shirts to crowbar the printing presses.
 
Here’s another look at Trump, from 1990, by Marie Brenner in Vanity Fair -- the attention-deficit playboy-builder we knew before he unleashed his public bully.
 
http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2015/07/donald-ivana-trump-divorce-prenup-marie-brenner
 
I also recommend two current articles on Hillary Clinton and Libya, stemming from what is obviously weeks of work: 
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/us/politics/hillary-clinton-libya.html
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/us/politics/libya-isis-hillary-clinton.html
 
One last thing about journalism: Margaret Sullivan is leaving her post as public editor at the Times to become a media columnist at the Washington Post. In my now-outsider’s opinion, I wish the Times had found a new gig for Sullivan, the best public editor the Times has had. 

I hope these links work in your system. If not, the stories are easily looked up. As a proud alumnus, I am glad the Times values its work by charging for it on line. It costs a lot of money for the Times and Globe to cast their spotlight.