A reporter's prespective on Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's decision to create a state-run news agency
When you hear a phrase "state-run news agency," it tends to conjure up images of authoritarian regimes like Russia or Turkey, or totalitarian regimes like Belarus and North Korea. So when Indianapolis Star reported that Indiana state governor Mike Pence created a state-run news agency, it raised more then a few eyebrows.
The draft of the website (via Indianapolis Star)
The concept isn't innately negative. BBC News is government-run, so is Canada's CBC News. But because they've cultivated a reputation for independence and objectivity that eases (though not entirely erases) people's misgivings. But it's pretty clear that objectivity isn't what Pence has in mind.
The site, called "Just IN," aims to provide pre-written stories for small Indiana news outlets, break news about the administration and offer lighter, "personality driven profiles."
The venture will be run by a former Indianapolis Star reporter, Bill McCleery, with stories written by press secretaries. It will include an editorial board made of McCleery and the governor's communications staff, the Star reports.
One could argue that this is a logical extension of what state and municipal governments all across United State have already been doing. for ages - sending out pres releases. It lets them try to get ahead of the news, put out the best possible spin on the latest new project/business opening/hiring/etc.
But the thing is that, in theory, at least, newspapers aren't going to just print those press releases. Reporters are supposed to check the facts, interview the individuals involved, to some research to add context, if possible, get a take from people who may not be happy with that bit of news.
If you are a large newspaper, like Chicago Tribune or, to use an Indiana example, Indianapolis Star, you are going to have several reporters on staff, and usually at least one reporter assigned to deal with politics. And those reporters are going to have time to check things. But as you get to newspapers in smaller cities - Michigan City's News-Dispatch, or Elkhart's Elkhart Truth - you get fewer reporters, and chances are they got their hands full trying to cover everything. It may just be that they have so much on their plate that they'll basically take the press releases, rewrite them a bit and maybe call someone from their local municipality just to get a few more quotes/clarify some details.
In newspapers that are smaller still, there may be one reporter covering everything. Back in December, I visited the New Carlisle, a tiny town near South Bend. Its newspaper, the New Carlisle News, has two reporters - one covering sports, one covering local news. The issue I picked up was about a third content by those reporters, a third reader submissions and a third press releases. And that's actually not bad for a town of New Carlisle's size. It's not uncommon to find newspapers that cover towns and villages larger then New Carlisle that have no reporters at all - just press releases and submissions by local residents.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the news service would be targeting "smaller newspapers." Which, to me, first and foremost, suggests small newspapers like New Carlisle News, or slightly larger newspapers like Chesterton Tribune - the weekday newspaper covering the Indiana Dunes region. But I think the service would also target newspapers like News-Dispatch and Elkhart Truth - which may be able to cover their respective communities fairly well, but if they want to write about state news, they have to use wire services, because they simply don't have the resources to send reporters to the state capital. Hell, this goes even for some medium-sized newspapers (like South Bend Tribune), which used to have reporters to the state capital but got rid of them due to budget cuts.
Would those newspapers actually use articles from "Just IN?" 10 years ago, I would've been shocked if they did. I could expect them to balk at running what sounds an awful lot like propaganda. But in the current economic climate...Much as I loathe to say it, I'm not so sure.
Here's another thing to consider. I don't know about you, but when I read a newspaper that runs press releases verbatim, they jump out at me. Even if the lack of byline didn't give them away, they sound entirely too neat, too chipper, too polished, too unabashingly upbeat and positive. But with Just IN, Pence seems to be aiming for a more classically journalistic tone. it's going to have an editorial board and a managing editor. And the sample story embedded in the Indianapolis Star article doesn't sound as artificial as press releases tend to. And it has a byline that makes it sound like an ordinary wire service. If I was linked to this article without any context, I'm not sure I would be able to tell that it was anything but an ordinary news story.
One of Pioneer Press' competitors, the Journal & Topics newspapers, regularly publishes Amazing Rosemont - a small supplement that's basically a mouthpiece of the government of the village of Rosemont. But nobody would ever mistake it for an actual newspaper. It's printed on a different paper stock than the regular Journal & Topics newspapers, and its articles are not formatted like newspaper articles. It may be going beyond simple pres releases, but it's also not trying to pass itself off as an objective news source.
"Just IN" does. And that, to me, is the most insidious aspect of the whole thing.
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