🔶 News Alchemists #29: "What if news avoiders are right, and you don’t need journalism?"
Journalistic training emphasizes that our societies NEED journalism, but it’s fair to ask if anyone actually NEEDS the journalism we’re currently getting.
Many people worldwide are not asking ‘if’ they need today’s journalism – they’re showing they don’t: 40% “often or sometimes avoid the news these days,” according to the latest Digital News Report (42% in the US, 46% in the UK, and over 60% in some other countries).
Too often, traditional journalism fails to consider the needs and emotions of its audience, or the role news is supposed to play in their lives. Journalists limit themselves to reporting “what happens” without concern for what people are “supposed to do” with the information.
Traditional news leaves many people overwhelmed by its volume and negativity. Reporters move from story to story in a cycle of overproduction, leaving no space for the questions that truly matter: “Why do we do what we do? What is journalism for?”
That's the opening of an article I co-wrote with 🧞Jeremy Gilbert – Knight Chair at Northwestern University's Medill School – which was just published yesterday 👇
Joe Germuska
This is the first outcome of the JR3 project that brought me to Northwestern in May and June to explore how we might reimagine journalism in a people-centred direction. (I wrote about it in #20 and towards the end of #23.)
But I'm not only inviting you to read an article. With it, we want to spark a conversation across our industry and help us reconnect with our purpose.
Embedded in the article, you will find two forms that I invite you to use to answer the two key questions we explored at the JR3 workshop:
What is the purpose of journalism?
What should journalism enable people to feel, think, or do?
I believe these are the most urgent questions we have: if we don't agree on what journalism is for, how can we know if what we do makes any difference?
Take a moment to reflect on it, and answer the two questions in the article. Then you will be able to read the answers that other people have submitted from all over the world.
The more answers we get, the richer the conversation will be. Help us gather more points of view by sharing the article and your own answers on your social media of choice, and invite others in your network to take part in this collective reflection.
I took the liberty of drafting something you can copy-paste and complete, but feel free to ignore it and write your own thing:
🎯 What is the purpose of journalism? What should it enable people to feel, think, or do?
I believe that the purpose of journalism is [YOUR ANSWER], and that journalism should enable people to [YOUR ANSWER].
These are the questions at the core of a recent article published by the #JR3 project at Northwestern University. How would you answer them?
https://knightlab.northwestern.edu/2025/07/21/jr3-workshop-recap/index.html
I can't wait to read your answers. Let's reimagine journalism together.
Six months in: On losing your way and reconnecting to your motivation
In last week's edition, I shared how I've been feeling a little uneasy about this newsletter because of concerns about its 'growth' – and how taking a full day to step back and reconnect with my motivation for writing it helped me realise I was worrying about the wrong things.
I received so much support, gratitude, and encouraging feedback – and thumbs-ups from many of you who want to get more behind-the-scenes updates – that I couldn't end this email without thanking you. You're awesome.
See you next week 👋
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