How News/Talk Radio Hosts Could Play a Role in Resurrecting Local Journalism

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Local journalism has become an almost extinct species, and this is not good for our nation, states, cities, towns, and hamlets. I will be giving you an idea of why we are at this point and what can be done and how radio could have a place in protecting our Republic.

In retrospect, the movement 50 years ago touting journalism as a way to change our society for the better became a hotbed of “activist journalism.” There were people drawn to that career, seeking to change society.

This movement was inspired partially by frustrations over the Vietnam War. Woodward and Bernstein’s book — All the President’s Men — was a call to action for those seeking to expose the powerful. Two journalists for The Washington Post followed the botched robbery of the Democratic National Committee’s offices at The Watergate Complex. The reporting led to the resignation of President Nixon. It was obviously great work. But, with all successful things, there were consequences.

The journalism departments at universities across the USA were the place to be. Many of the students were not as interested in the truth as they were focused on advocacy. When the goal of a story is to confirm a preconceived conclusion, it ceases to be journalism.

If you are a talk radio host, you have preconceived ideas and biases. That is a good thing because you are paid for your opinions. Journalists are not. The job is to find the truth. Anyone can see any White House briefing since January 20^th. The questions are tough and pointed, which is a good thing.

In the Biden administration, you rarely saw journalists push back at White House briefings. Judge this how you will. I, personally, think that so-called practitioners of the fourth estate were generally very happy with the policies of the Biden administration. These journalists allowed themselves to be used by Democratic leaders and the administration on the mental sharpness of President Biden. Even though Joe Biden was a blunder machine, few journalists questioned it. Why? It is because the fourth estate became complicit in Biden’s obvious mental decline.

There was also another issue that our national media ignored. The Democratic standard bearer’s sometimes erratic behavior led to speculation that she was three wines into the day before 10 every morning. I have a friend who is with one of the traditional big three networks. I asked about Vice President Harris and her rumored reputation as a wine mom. This friend told me that those are not rumors and that the Veep’s drinking was an open secret in D.C.

I personally want to know if potential leaders of the free world are sober. Not that I expect the President to be a non-drinker, but I want to know that the candidates are not hitting the bottle early in the day. Of all that I have read, Lyndon Johnson was the last President who really liked to have a drink while serving as our President.

Harris frequently would start laughing over something innocuous. These seemingly frequent events were never questioned by the media. No one asked the Vice President if she had been drinking. I think that is a fair question. Why wasn’t she asked about her drinking? Logically, you would have to surmise that the media thought that it would destroy her campaign. Yet, on social media, this topic was frequently discussed with videos that served as evidence. Were the videos manipulated? I am sure that some were, but others were not. By the way, if social media is discussing a story and journalists are ignoring the obvious truth, it sullies the entire profession of journalism.

In the past 20 years, newspapers have slashed their news staffs. ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox have cut their news staff. Local TV and radio have cut their ability for investigative journalism. This is terrible for our country.

According to a 2022 survey conducted by the highly regarded Newhouse School at Syracuse University, only 3.4% of Journalists identify as Republican, 36% as Democrats, and 51% as independents. If the leadership of any newsroom is dominated by supporters of one particular party, what stories are being greenlit?

Now, there is hope. There are independent journalists across this nation covering the stories that will not be explored. These platforms are usually one human band enterprises. Obviously, Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi are doing terrific work on the national front. I know of blogs across this country that are covering local and state issues.

Because of the challenges of a small base of interest in local issues, these sites are rare to amplify abuses of power successfully. As a result, we have local TV stations frightened to lose any billing and are unwilling to address hot topic controversies. That is why all the local stories on your TV station are soft news focusing on a child finding her long lost iguana.

As a talk radio host, I have had the honor to commit journalism. There was a high-profile political leader who pulled strings to change school policy after his daughter and friends were caught with booze two days before graduation. The mayor’s daughter was able to walk for her diploma even though it was an automatic one-week suspension from all school activities. The buddies of the daughter were unable to participate in the graduation ceremony.

I ran this by the station’s General Manager, realizing that there would be blowback. The boss asked me if the station would be sued. My answer was that someone could sue you over anything. We ran the story. The publicity-seeking mayor hid and eventually lost re-election. I saw him a few months later and greeted him. The mayor told me that his daughter was punished at home. My response was that the school’s policy was bent for one person. That was unfair and an abuse of his position.

News/talk radio hosts often commit journalism. Be an authentic truth-seeker. Ask the tough questions. You may be the only person who is unafraid to take on abuse. If you are given a story that seems credible, try proving it false. If you cannot find an untruth, confirm the validity of the story. Find independent hard evidence. Call people who may know something about the story.

If you ask the right questions, you may be able to create a lane of service and notoriety in your community.

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Peter Thiele

Peter Thiele is a weekly news/talk radio columnist for Barrett Media, and an experienced news/talk radio programmer. He currently serves as News/Talk Format Captain for Zimmer Communications. Prior to joining Zimmer, Peter held programming positions in New York City, San Francisco, Des Moines, Little Rock, Greenville, Hunstville, and Joplin. Peter has also worked as a host, account executive and producer in Minneapolis, and San Antonio. He can be found on Twitter at @PeterThiele.