233 years after our Founding Fathers enshrined freedom of the press in the Constitution, journalists in the United States and around the world continue to face challenges.
One of the most influential lies in helping voters make informed decisions in an election year, today’s deep divisions don’t just extend to voters.
“The biggest problem is that we currently have a fragmented media environment where people are only getting their news, especially political news, from one source,” said Bloomberg political reporter Mark Nichetto. “In some cases, it’s not a mainstream source, it’s something on social media or even YouTube.”
Nichetto shared those challenges with his colleagues Thursday in front of members of the Youngstown Press Club.
After 10 years at Vindicator, he was promoted to the Bloomberg News political team.
Nichetto, who has covered every Democratic and Republican national convention since 2008, said he sees the most value in closely monitoring the vote-counting process and the rules that govern elections. And while it’s a fine line, a journalist’s obligation to the truth comes with an element of discretion.
“Maybe there’s a balance there between pointing out things that aren’t true without offending people who think they’re making inaccurate judgments,” Nichetto said. It’s an important caveat to hopefully preserve our free press for another 233 years.
“Where do you find reliable news and facts, and how many such sources are there?” he asked rhetorically to his viewers and readers. “And without such sources at the local level, we are all the poorer.”
