Local television should challenge viewers, according to former KWQC anchor Dustin Nolan, who made headlines for his tearful goodbye earlier this month. Or, if you follow FTVLive, the sentiment could be attributed to former Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen. Regardless of attribution, the importance of the sentiment shouldn’t stop at TV and instead expand to radio, podcasting, and social media.
For the last three years, you’ve indulged my airing of grievances as a monthly Festivus of sorts. But this is one of the most common and consistent themes we are all guilty of. Becoming a one-trick pony, operating on default — usually because many of us feel overworked — and acting like we are all happy, shiny people holding hands by allowing the algorithm nerds to show us exactly what we want, and none of what we don’t.
Most of the radio and TV world operates like a warm blanket, especially news/talk. We all know what to expect. Without turning a dial, we can predict that Greg Kelly will be annoyed at something New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said or did. Ali Velshi will be frustrated with the decisions of the Trump administration. And somehow we want our audiences to accept this as news — “and that’s the way it is.”
The Trust Problem
People are far smarter than this, which is why time and time again the polls show a huge mistrust in the news, increasing frustration with the media, and unfortunately the media turning a blind eye to the corruption happening on both sides of the political aisle.
So what if we did something different? Take time out of your opinion show to air your grievances with the party you are partisan to, or better yet, compliment the other side of the political aisle for doing something well — I mean, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Now don’t just do it because I say so; do it for the betterment of the country. Whenever there is a politically motivated shooting, politicians often ask us in the media to “tone down” the “violent rhetoric.” Complimenting the other side of the aisle is just one way we can do this. For those who are insulted by the idea or think it’s completely preposterous, think of it as a challenge.
We are failing to challenge our viewers’ thought processes because, oftentimes, we choose not to challenge our own. If you work at Newsmax, the left is always bad. If you work at MS NOW, the right is always bad. Vilifying Americans for their bad ideas — because both sides have them — will only cause more division. Then you become the problem instead of the solution.
The Case for Honest Media
Journalists who work for truth and not an agenda are fed up. They are leaving the industry or foregoing it altogether because they reserve the right to be challenged. Aliens were once taboo for us to cover. And now we can’t get enough of them because a few brave journalists are challenging the norms we are all accustomed to.
So you can be the warm blanket everyone turns to when they want to hear exactly how they are feeling. Or you can be bold, be different, and be honest. Oftentimes, honesty is hard to say and even harder to accept.
The “bad orange man” in the White House took a big liberal idea and turned it into his own thing: Trump Accounts. But God forbid anyone on the right admit it started out as a leftist idea. Or anyone on the left thank President Donald Trump for taking Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) “baby bonds” idea and putting it into action. No, you still find a way to manipulate the story to make the other political party the villain.
There is no winning this way. So I invite you all to challenge yourself every day. Or if that’s too much, at least once a week. Find the goodness in the other political party and be the change the American people are asking for. Challenging your political views and those of your viewers doesn’t mean losing your values. It means invoking critical thinking and not always providing the answers or opinions.
So find a way to challenge your viewers, and challenge yourself. Politics, after all, is just a giant circle. The far right is one statement away from being the extreme left. And the left is two steps away from being right.
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Krystina Alarcon Carroll contributes features and columns for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
