I’ve found it increasingly difficult in recent months to resist a sense of profound hopelessness: the world is on fire, enmeshed in devastating violence as many in my profession seem intent on continuing to police each others’ speech rather than documenting such atrocities and holding those responsible accountable. But after a week of reporting throughout Washington on a variety of topics pertaining to democracy and representation for The Objective, I’m feeling more optimistic about our collective power as journalists to, as Nikole Hannah-Jones put it, harness the power of narrative.

My week began at the 2023 Democracy Summit, an annual conference organized by Howard University’s Center for Journalism and Democracy (CJD) that brings together reporters, scholars and advocates seeking to better cover the many threats to America’s multi-racial democracy. 

One panel in particular caught my eye: about the problems with mainstream coverage of “culture wars.”

Introducing the topic, ProPublica’s Nicole Carr — who has reported extensively on the growing conservative movement to censor school library books, a so-called “culture war” issue — spoke to her belief that “education is a democracy beat.” 

“The way that our minds are shaped, the way we grapple with who we are in America, the way we see ourselves in this space, and the way we go on to govern this space is democracy work,” Carr said. To that point, panelists including scholars of U.S. history, library officials, and schoolteachers spoke to the need to resist relying on lazy monikers like “culture war” or “nonpartisan think tank” when reporting on complex topics and instead investigate the motives behind all actors involved in such disputes. For those covering these topics, CJD’s “Democracy Toolkit” offers numerous helpful resources on how to do just that.

Later, conducting research into the historic death toll Israel’s military campaign has had on Palestinian journalists — and the disturbing ways American media leaders have reprimanded those highlighting that fact — I came across an interview with journalist Jamie Lauren Keiles about his decision to stop contributing to the New York Times following editors’ retaliation against journalists who signed a letter critical of mainstream coverage of Israel's assault on Gaza.

“There are all these ideas about journalistic objectivity, but then when it actually comes down to the level of news being produced, things we would expect of news coverage on any other topic are totally being forgotten here,” Keiles argued. “The idea that the magazine, or the [New York] Times as whole, would have some hold on my speech just seemed ludicrous to me. In some way, [my decision] was a small amount of protests over the labor conditions and the industry at large.”

As they discussed the fallout from his choice to sign the letter, I reflected on my own initial hesitation to do so — my concerns about whether future editors might question my reporting credentials because I had publicly called out double standards in coverage of the deadliest war for journalists in modern history. “If an institution is not willing to give you a job, what do you owe them?” Keiles posed in the interview. “I owe nothing to the institution of the [New York] Times, if the Times gives nothing to me.”

Keiles’ words reverberated in my head later that week as I spent several hours in in the DC Court of Appeals, hearing arguments about whether and how the Washington Post may have discriminated against reporter Felicia Sonmez due to her being a woman and sexual assault survivor. The ongoing legal case hinges on technicalities in DC’s free speech laws, but also broader questions about how far news outlets can go to protect outdated notions of “objectivity.” Post lawyers claimed they disciplined Sonmez, taking her off coverage of the #MeToo movement, not because of her survivor status but because she’d spoken out about it publicly.

After the hearing, I asked Sonmez what it was like to sit in the courtroom and listen to those traumatic experiences probed in public, and why she was pushing forward with this case at all given she’d long moved on from the Post. “I can't change what happened to me. I can't change the way that the Post handled my case,” Sonmez said. “But I can try to do my best to make sure that this doesn't happen again to anyone else. If going forward, if no other female journalist has to worry that by disclosing their assaults their career might be impacted by their employer, that is something that I would really like to see happen.”

Sonmez’s commendable bravery and conviction aside, her focus on future journalists — and, by extension, their readers — is what stuck with me most. To Keiles’ point, she has no obligation to the Post but is pursuing justice because she feels she owes it to future generations to improve the conditions she suffered through.

I’m ending my week feeling no less distraught at the state of our world, but more centered in my conviction to try to improve it with journalism. The path forward is not through “performative neutrality” but clear-eyed honesty and principle.

For more on what I learned at this week’s Democracy Summit, check out my stories on scrapping “culture war” framing in education coverage and mainstream outlets’ continued censorship of journalists over supporting Palestinian human rights.

—Jacob Gardenswartz

The Objective and Free Press launch the Civic Media Series: The groups, along with members of the Future of Local News Collective, are passing the mic to local news leaders who are working toward equitable journalism that’s service-oriented, networked, civic-minded, and participatory. The series is meant to uplift their needs and start a critical and diverse conversation demanding investment in those building liberatory information systems that are responsive to the most acute community needs. (The Objective)

First U.S. editorial board calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza: Yesterday, the L.A. Times editorial board said the “killing in Gaza must stop,” ostensibly the first American board to make such a statement. The editorial was printed the same day news broke that the paper was prohibiting over 30 journalists from covering the violence for at least three months after they signed an open letter critiquing Israel’s killing of journalists and urging clear-eyed coverage of the assault. (Los Angeles Times, Semafor, X)

L.A. settlement benchmark case for journalists’ rights with law enforcement: LAist’s Josie Huang reached a $700,000 settlement agreement with Los Angeles County and the county’s Sheriff’s Department including requirements that the department provide deputies with briefings on press rights before patrols in which they are likely to encounter news media workers and provide written guidance on laws governing police interactions with journalists. It could support future cases safeguarding journalists’ ability to document police conduct in the future. (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press)

New publication The Sick Times chronicles Long COVID crisis: In light of changing reporting needs three years into the pandemic, a new site from journalists Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis will focus on stories about Long COVID and other chronic post-viral illnesses. “No denial, minimizing, or gaslighting here,” they write on the About page, a reference to increasingly poor coverage of the ongoing pandemic’s impact on individual and societal health. (The Sick Times)

Aftermath, worker-owned publication covering video games, the internet, and surrounding culture, launches: The games beat has recently undergone increasing attrition and layoffs, leaving a niche for the site to fill with reporting “to hold power to account, to cut through the marketing hype, and to elevate the voices of those affected by the gaming industry’s upheaval.” Aftermath launched with four founders and a couple recurring bloggers, citing other worker-owned publications as inspiration for the site. (Aftermath)

11 days until … “How to Cover Trans Issues with Accuracy and Nuance”. The hybrid event — in-person at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and virtual through Zoom — will see Newmark professor Masha Gessen and Semafor executive editor Gina Chua discussing “how to responsibly cover trans issues and experiences, how to create supportive work environments for trans journalists, and how to care for yourself and acknowledge your personhood while doing the work.”

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Copy edits by Curtis Yee.