I have worked in this business for many years—too long sometimes, I think. I have been through (and fought) rounds and rounds of layoffs and the dreaded non-paid leaves of absence—or what corporations and holding companies like to call “vacations.”
Growing up on the newspaper side of media and falling in love with the very premise of facts and keeping communities informed. How important is that? Very.
But today, it has changed.
For some, it’s not about facts but bias, clicks, social media posts, and time on site.
Read: Op-Ed: Gannett Continues Its ‘Cut To Grow’ Model
“Just get the clicks; we are drowning,” an editor yells across the newsroom as the threat of more cuts looms.
When the mantra was, “Get it first, but first, get it right.” The times were better. But today, it’s get it. While newsrooms worldwide are wondering how to stay staffed, maybe, just maybe, if we went back to facts and not bias, we could help mitigate confusion and inform readers so they can make decisions based on facts. What a concept.
Take a look at a recent article published by the Associated Press titled ” JD Vance says school shootings are a ‘fact of life,’ calls for better security.”
What a statement to say on the heels of the violent massacre at the hands of a 14-year-old boy in Georgia. Right?
The problem is that’s not what Vance said, and the context was ‘ripped from the headline,’ for lack of a better term.
Vance did, however, emphasize the need to enhance school security, acknowledging that it is a “fact of life” that shooters often target schools.
Read: Florida Reps. Steube, Moskowitz Intro Bill For Presidential Library Donation Transparency
“What’s really going to solve this problem—and I don’t like to admit this,” Vance said. “I don’t like that this is a fact of life. But if you are a psycho, and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. We need to bolster security so that if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and harm children, they can’t do it.”
Axios jumped on board and published a piece highlighting VP Kamla Harris’ criticism of Vance’s remark but later added an editor’s note, stating the article was updated to provide “further context” on Vance’s statement. But the damage is done.
Despite Vance’s comments calling for increased school security, the Harris campaign’s official X account, Kamala HQ, falsely accused him of dismissing the tragedy of school shootings and attacking gun safety reforms.
“J.D. Vance responds to the deadly shooting in Georgia by saying school shootings are just ‘a fact of life’ and attacking common sense gun safety reform,” Kamala HQ wrote on X.
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom also criticized Vance, accusing him of being indifferent to the deaths of children in schools.“J.D. Vance: School shootings are just ‘a fact of life,’” Newsom remarked. “Kids are being killed, and he’s shrugging his shoulders. Remember that in November.”
Do you see what happened here?
The AP later updated its headline to read, “JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for better security,” but did so without including an editor’s note about the change.
The Associated Press also deleted its original tweet about Vance’s remarks approximately 90 minutes after posting it. The revised tweet provided proper context, stating that Vance “laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for stronger security measures to prevent further violence.”
“This post replaces an earlier post that was deleted to add context to the partial quote from Vance,” the AP clarified in a late Thursday night post on X.
But again, the damage is done, and AP author moves on to the next ‘gotcha’ piece? Is this how this works?
It won’t work for long, as even in the age of X and cable news commentators (often mistaken for news anchors), the nation wants and needs facts, and credibility still goes a long way.
Opinions, like this piece, are important, and civil debate (if that still exists) is required, but we can’t gain the backing of our readers if the ‘trusted’ news people are more concerned with their own political bias and clicks.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Android Users: Download our free app to stay up-to-date on the latest news.
Connect with us: Follow the Tampa Free Press on Facebook and Twitter for breaking news and updates.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.