Local reporting’s avoidance of debate and analysis makes journalism nearly superfluous.

Evidence

The local news did not follow reporters’ own rules. It almost never showed balance and debate, and rarely showed how the news would matter to everyday citizens, except as defenders of their own very specific and narrowly defined interests, or as well-meaning volunteers. Reporters wanted to draw readers in by focusing on feelings, as if feelings exist apart from thoughts. Stories focused on the ”local,” but as fewer and fewer important issues are purely local any more (if they ever were), this narrow focus unnecessarily constricted reporters. In avoiding analysis and debate, and focusing on citizens’ feelings, and neglecting to locate interesting news sources who could argue over how to interpret local news in light of wider policies, reporters made their own work nearly superfluous (Rosen 1994). — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1612

Categorization

• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1612
• XREF: connects to: Reporters produce uniform clichés because none can speak the local language — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam: How the Media and the…, 71

Broader Connections

• Reporters produce uniform clichés because none can speak the local language #corroborates (0.75) — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 71