#306 Rocky Talk - Covering American Democracy: It's Not a Game (At Least It Shouldn't Be)
Update: 2022-05-24
Description
This episode's guest is Bill Barrow, a national politics reporter for The Associated Press.
Democracy is not a game with a scoreboard or a red carpet to critique celebrity fashion. Yet in this red vs. blue era of American politics, journalism too often advances shallow, oversimplified narratives – sometimes to the point of error. At best, this is lazy and reductive. At worst, this “SportsCenter” brand of journalism exacerbates cultural divisions that are fraying American institutions, including the fourth estate. There’s a better way, even in a marketplace of ideas dominated by cable news and social media. We must reclaim our ability, our responsibility to think in nuance and complexity. Then our journalism—all of it—must follow suit, so that our readers, listeners, and viewers can better understand themselves and the world around them.
Interview by Dartmouth student Kavya Nivarthy ’25. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy
Democracy is not a game with a scoreboard or a red carpet to critique celebrity fashion. Yet in this red vs. blue era of American politics, journalism too often advances shallow, oversimplified narratives – sometimes to the point of error. At best, this is lazy and reductive. At worst, this “SportsCenter” brand of journalism exacerbates cultural divisions that are fraying American institutions, including the fourth estate. There’s a better way, even in a marketplace of ideas dominated by cable news and social media. We must reclaim our ability, our responsibility to think in nuance and complexity. Then our journalism—all of it—must follow suit, so that our readers, listeners, and viewers can better understand themselves and the world around them.
Interview by Dartmouth student Kavya Nivarthy ’25. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy
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