Good morning. Even though I'm not nearly important enough to have been asked to predict journalism things for @NiemanLab, I'd like to offer some. I hope I am proved wrong about all of them.
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(thread)
1. "Open press" events will remain dead post-vaccine: Because of the pandemic, both the Trump White House and Biden campaign/transition have limited access to in-person events, news conferences, and briefings to a small circle of deep-pocketed news outlets. While these limits...
...are supposed to be temporary, they have also magnified the advantages enjoyed by the participating outlets (and the reporters who work for them) & helped insulate both the White House and campaign/transition from questioning by those with differing backgrounds/ perspectives...
...or might be more inclined to be aggressive. When @JoeBiden becomes President, he will be the first in recent memory to assume office without having held an actual news conference, & on occasions when he does take questions, his staff picks the questioners. Even post-vaccine...
...I expect these trends to continue as both sides remain comfortable with the arrangement.
2. News organizations will double down on "balance" — there will be extreme amounts of pressure on journalists to cover minor dustups, pseudoscandals & gaffes emanating from Bidenworld...
2. News organizations will double down on "balance" — there will be extreme amounts of pressure on journalists to cover minor dustups, pseudoscandals & gaffes emanating from Bidenworld...
...at the same volume & w/ the same zeal as the honest-to-God corruption, malfeasance, & incompetence in the outgoing administration. Eager to avoid these bad-faith critiques, many will give in to this pressure & elevate bullshit.
3. Failing upward/no rewards for being right...
3. Failing upward/no rewards for being right...
...remains the standard — the quadrennial post-election game of media musical chairs has begun, and the pandemic-influenced version is worse than usual. Without incentives or pressure to change hiring practices, the news job market will remain a closed loop dominated by fake...
...job listings for positions that have already been filled behind the scenes by poaching from competitors or internal promotions, people from non-traditional backgrounds will remain on the outside, and newsrooms will too often keep going w/ comfort over diversity by elevating...
...those who've been on the inside over those who've endeavored to be truly objective over the past four years. Access, rather than accuracy, will continue to be the order of the day.
(That's it for now, more to come later.)
(That's it for now, more to come later.)
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