Downsized newspapers lead to an ignorant society?

Former Beacon Journal staffer and minor league baseball aficianado Dick McBane tipped me off to an article that warns of switching from investigative newspaper journalism to Internet gossip. Society becomes more and more ignorant of what its politicians and bureaucrats are doing.

While the On Faith magazine article is laced heavily with religion, it provides thoughtful worrying over what loss of costly newspaper investigating will do to our democracy.

Samples:

"When journalists do their job, citizens have the information they need to make informed decisions. In the absence of good journalism . . . we’re prone to be misled, or to remain ignorant of the true state of society.

"Economic pressure has forced newspapers to appeal to a broader audience, to the civically disengaged who care more about entertainment and sports than the political health of the city."


LeBron James gets all of the front pages of the BJ and Plain Dealer, for example.

Click on the headline to reach the entire article.

McBane, who lives in Lilburn, Georgia, has submitted other BJ Alums blog items about the state of newspapers.