Media wish list for 2024: From ditching X to hoping truth makes a comeback

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
·4 min read
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You’re going to hear this a lot in the media in 2024: The upcoming presidential election is the most important in history.

You’ll hear it a lot because, by and large, it’s true. (Adams vs. Jefferson was a big one, but you don’t hear much about that one anymore. Imagining Fox News covering that is kind of fun, though — “Next on ‘Hannity,’ guest Aaron Burr on whether Adams is a British loyalist in disguise.”)

The reason it’s an important election is because if enough of Donald Trump’s recent threats and boasts are true and he is elected, it might be the last recognizable one we have.

So my most fervent wish for media in 2024 is that journalists have the courage and the stamina, as well as the thick skin, to cover the election the way it needs to be covered.

'Not the odds, but the stakes'

That is to say, make it less about who’s ahead of whom in the latest poll (the ever-popular horse-race method) and more about what the consequences of the election are likely to be. New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen calls it, “Not the odds, but the stakes.” And he’s exactly right. That is the context to frame at least part of every story written about the election.

You may have issues with Joe Biden — dislike his policies, think he’s not up to the task of four more years, whatever — and those issues are certainly valid fodder for stories. But until he starts talking about using the U.S. Department of Justice against his political enemies or trying to silence media criticism through unconstitutional means or using language that echoes that of Nazis and other hate groups or refusing to accept election results and lying about them constantly, this is an apples-and-rotten-oranges race and demands to be covered as such.

There is ample evidence that journalists are starting to do this. The Atlantic devotes its entire January/February issue to “If Trump Wins,” a series of essays on “the threat a second term poses to American democracy.”

Good.

It's a perfect time to attack democracy

In November, the Washington Post’s Robert Kagan wrote a column headlined, “A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending.” It is as chilling as that makes it sound. As if to drive this home, Sen. J.D. Vance wrote U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland wanting to know if he planned to investigate Kagan for what he wrote in the essay. Kash Patel, a former Trump aide, said on Steve Bannon’s podcast (there’s a meeting of the minds) that “we will go out and find the conspirators not just in government but in the media. Yes, we’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.”

Yeah, just normal stuff here, nothing terrifying at all about that.

It’s a perfect time to attack democracy. Media companies are in trouble, fighting to keep their audiences and cutting back on staff and coverage. Make no mistake, covering the election the way it should be covered will make enemies, and not just blowhards like Vance and Patel. It could come at the expense of some readers, viewers and listeners. But there is nothing more important than telling the truth, and continuing to tell the truth in the face of threats and an audience who might not want to hear it — while we are still able to tell it.

Other media wishes:

  • That the tide of layoffs and closures is somehow stemmed. That means more money. Where that comes from is anybody’s guess.

  • That media companies are more responsible and open about their use of AI. It’s a tool, not a replacement.

  • That the war between Israel and Hamas becomes less dangerous for the journalists covering it. At least 64 journalists have been killed since the Oct. 7 attack, the most ever documented.

  • That media outlets stop paying attention to Elon Musk’s X ravings, and stop paying attention to Twitter, period. There are other ways to promote your work, and you don’t feel like you have to wash your hands after you use them.

  • That Taylor Swift finally gets some media attention. (I kid, I kid.)

  • That truth makes a comeback. If that wish comes true, we’ll all be better off.

'Never stop asking for more': How ABC 15's Dave Biscobing gets answers

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Media wish list for 2024: From cancelling X to election coverage