It's about credibility

By Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press

I had to chuckle when I read Marty Schladen's article headlined, "We knew local journalism was shrinking; it’s worse than we thought" published in Ohio Capital Journal and republished on The HCP website this week.

"The analysis was released on Thursday after a collaboration between the media software company Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News, a nonprofit coalition that seeks to revitalize local journalism," Schladen said. "It chugged data and determined that when counted on a per-capita basis, the United States has lost a stunning 75 percent of its local journalists since 2002."

According to Schladen, at 7.9 local journalists per 100,000 residents, Ohio ranks 31st among states.

“The basic finding is that it’s even more widespread and severe than we thought,” said Steven Waldman, founder and president of Rebuild Local News.

That's no surprise for this guy, who has spent the last four decades in newspaper journalism.

Schladen accurately points out that, "One result of such a loss of news coverage is the potential for public corruption. Very often it’s the local press that blows the whistle when a county commissioner uses the highway department to pave his driveway {publisher's notes in () – (or as in at least one local county he uses the commission office to distribute campaign-related material), or a sheriff (or as in at least one local county, a candidate for sheriff)} uses official resources against political opponents."

Yes, those things have happened.

"Another consequence is that without the press looking on, local government is able to act in virtual secret, making huge decisions without input from the community whose money it’s spending," Schladen notes.

All good points.

While I agree with Schladen's assessment of the newspaper business in 2025, let's look at how it really is partly a self-inflicted wound.

Twenty-five (or more) years ago, newspaper owners across the country were quick to set up websites and offer "free news content." (Many newspaper owners actually prefer the word "content" over direct news coverage.) 

After years of giving away this "content," which used to be sacred news for the paid print editions, owners realized that we've now witnessed an entire generation that reads its news online, whether it's a legitimate news site or some social media drivel of distortion.

Then, there are those "content" generators, the majority of whom in the national media are left-leaning, Trump-hating, self-righteous experts on things they know very little about. Like the actual business side of the business.

Last week, I received a nice note and a subscription payment from Ron Kelly of Sabina. He complimented The HCP for our local news and news judgment. The fact that one of our Clinton County readers took the time to do this was due in no small part to the efforts of Mel Nicholas, who delivers The HCP in Clinton County.

As I have pointed out time and again, more than 20 years ago, CBS News' Emmy Award-winner Bernard Goldberg exposed the political bias in his own profession. Goldberg had a reputation as one of the pre-eminent reporters in the television news business. When he looked within his own profession, he saw that the media far too often ignored their primary mission: Objective, fair and accurate reporting.

In his 2001 book, "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News," the 30-year veteran CBS news reporter gave detailed examples of liberal bias in news reporting. The book reached No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. Goldberg witnessed time and again that the mainstream media slanted the news to the left. 

Fast-forward a couple of decades, and we have media "institutions" accepting Pulitzers for intentionally false reporting due to political bias or other ulterior motives.

For too long, the mainstream media have taken their audience for granted – and banked on their assumed stupidity. But the readers and viewers were not as dumb as the mainstreamers thought.

For many of the former and once loyal newspaper readers, it boiled down to the old adage of "fool me once, shame on thee; fool me twice, shame on me."

Readers simply stopped reading the metro newspapers, and many good, community newspapers also suffered by association. It's the same with TV news. The liberal networks (which are all of them save for one or two) continue to lose viewers. Readers and viewers respect news reporting and commentary, but they also know the difference between them. 

Too many in this business tend to masquerade their opinions as "news." That explains the lack of trust among readers and viewers. 

While the liberal bent may play well in the nation's cities (not that those newspapers are thriving), it does not play well in the suburbs or rural America. Just take a quick look at the U.S. county-by-county map of the 2024 presidential election. You can look it up online, but I'll add the image at the end of this column just for fun.

Many conservatives (and certainly many Republicans, not all of whom are conservatives) have lost trust in the accuracy of news reporting – and with good reason. 

And while I do not disagree with many in the mainstream media who are railing against the most-recent Epstein whitewash effort after the Department of Justice and FBI released a July 7 memo stating there is no Jeffrey Epstein client list, no evidence of blackmail against high-profile individuals and no basis to file further charges in connection with Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, all I can ask is this: Where was your outrage when Biden's DOJ had the same information for years? Crickets.

For all of Trump's many accomplishments in his first six months of his second term, his administration dropped the ball on this case. Big time. A serious miscalculation that, if not corrected, will only linger in the reporting. The liberal media smell blood.

My advice to journalists is to strive for fairness and accuracy and leave your opinions for the opinion section. But when you begin so many stories with a predetermined bent, don't expect all readers to believe you. Thus goes the credibility across the business.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.

Below, is the 2024 presidential U.S. county-by-county map.