Why I believe in journalism*: Deggans edition

*Thoughts from the people who make it.

Oftentimes, it feels like mistrust in media is the default. Which, actually, can be valuable. (Getty Images)

A note from your Chills editor: As I navigate my way through my third decade in journalism, I — like all journalists — am faced with a lack of trust in general of the media. Oftentimes, it feels like mistrust is the default. Which, actually, can be valuable. Journalism relies on readers, listeners and viewers to choose what they consume, who they see as giving accurate and fair information. These choices can tell us what we’re doing well, or not.

From within the industry, we can often miss signs that we are failing the public. But that kind of failure is equally — and hopefully even more so — balanced out by the amount of good the press does in the world. That’s really the point: media is meant to hold power to account.

I’ve asked a bunch of journalists I admire to share why they believe in journalism, even with all its 21st-century pitfalls and complications. I hope their words will be of use to you.

Futile and frustrating, but it can work

By Eric Deggans

Eric Deggans is NPR’s first full-time TV critic, an adjunct professor at Duke University and chair of the National Association of Black Journalists’ Media Monitoring Committee.

(Courtesy Eric Deggans)

Here’s one story illustrating why I believe in journalism: Back in 2004, I heard a new syndicated radio show was coming to the Tampa Bay area airwaves when I was media critic for the largest newspaper in Florida, The St. Petersburg Times.