The Hello You Sunday Supplement, Issue 17
'We all use them, consume them, rely on them, even produce them ...'
Hello, you. How’re you doing?
Here we are in Betwixtmas, the perineum of the year, between one thing and your mother. And this week’s Sunday Supplement is something of a single-topic slugger.
Social media. Media, of various kinds. Journalism.
We all use them, consume them, rely on them, are addicted to them, abhor them, and quite a few subscribers to this newsletter even produce them. So it befits us to know and understand as much about them as we can … or as we can stand to.
Having spent a lifetime working in the media, you could say that my relationship with these behemoths is complicated, at best. I’ve gone from being heartburstingly proud of the media and journalism to riven with corrosive shame, then back to a middling position of tortuous ambivalence, often within days if not hours, more times than I can count.
Reading the insights of people better placed and better informed than I am really helps. This issue of the Hello You Sunday Supplement will bring you some of these insights. I hope you find them helpful and illuminating. If you do, you probably know someone else who will also. Share this newsletter with them? As many of them as you can?
If you want more - and you’ll be a better-equipped citizen if you do, but I can also understand that having seen some of this, you might really not - then most of these posts are from the newsletters of wise and brilliant people, or the publications of the best professional and academic organisations in the field, and I recommend very highly that you subscribe to every damn one you can.
And of course, I’d love it if you guaranteed yourself some lovingly-produced locally-sourced content. too. Please join the Hello You family by subscribing, if you haven’t already?
Incidentally, I’ve added to the benefits available to you if you take out a paid subscription. So now you actually get something more than just ‘my unceasing gratitude’, which, I acknowledge, had its shortcomings as a ROI.
But first, as always …
Something to listen to while you read
Billie Eilish, no less, brilliantly live on NPR's Tiny Desk
What went right in 2024
There were ‘mind-blowing’ medical advances, species came back from the brink, renewables defied naysayers, cities became more liveable, and scientists showed how to slow time, plus more good news from the good people at Positive News
OK, let’s roll up our sleeves, pull down our green plastic eyeshades, fire up the Adler Universal 200, and go …
Toronto local news site The Green Line doesn’t just want to inform its audience. It aspires to improve their lives. Surely journalism at its core should be information that’s useful or user-friendly, that helps people navigate their lives on a daily basis, that helps them make decisions impacting their future, that helps them take action? (this is exactly what I want to do with Hello You! How can I do it more, do it better, and reach more people? Suggestions welcome)
To combat misinformation, start with connection, not correction
‘You need to demonstrate the highest values yourself’ - Building a culture of care in your newsroom
Putting community voices at the centre of local journalism
‘We want to meet the people where they’re at, whether that’s churches, neighborhood block clubs, salons, or barber shops’ - Capital B Gary’s editor on collaborating with his hometown (I want to do this too. It’s one reason I do the ‘bench’ pieces for Hello You, and why I take my recorder to where people are at. But where else in Shrewsbury or Shropshire could or should I go, to meet people - in every sense of the phrase - where they’re at? Message me or leave a comment? I’d love to know your thoughts on this)
Ethical standards for news content creators
At least some journalists are covering local communities who'd otherwise be ignored
A plea to newsroom leaders at this dangerous moment
Guess what? To cover somewhere properly, you actually have to be there. And yes, it’s worth the effort
How ChatGPT Search (mis)represents content
The rise of the online villains
Ideas to help fix journalism have been available for years. But these solutions often don’t reach the people who could benefit the most
‘Treating people in newsrooms callously is always wrong, and … institutions where this happens repeatedly become coarsened and brittle’ - A requiem for the culture of the Wall Street Journal
There’s no evidence that moving to a both-sidesy middle will bring in new readers, and plenty of evidence it won’t
More of the good stuff in a moment, but first …
Hello You 79: A Wroxeter soundscape
A peaceful listen for Betwixtmas
This time between Christmas and New Year - I’m calling it Betwixtmas - may represent a few days’ peace, an opportunity not to do all of the things you’ve been doing so much of over the last couple of weeks: travelling, socialising and eating but also thinking, listening, planning and making it through the turmoil of Christmas, whether that’s joyful turmoil in your house, or otherwise. So this episode of Hello You has been created with a peaceful Betwixtmas in mind
Hello You is about people, stories and ‘the complexities of life’. To make sure you don’t miss anything, whether it’s an episode of the Hello You podcast or the Sunday Supplement, why not subscribe? If you really love what I do, you can take out a paid subscription (and I’d be very happy and grateful) but you don’t have to. Hello You will remain free for everyone, for ever. You might just help keep it - and me - going, though
OK, back to your weekly good-stuff round-up!
Journalists need to focus more on the boring minutiae of policymaking and not on the sensationalism of politics
What the landmark ‘1619 Project’ taught Nikole Hannah-Jones
'Instead of chasing phantoms on social media, journalists would make better use of our dwindling resources, and perhaps regain some of the public's trust, by doing what we've done in every age: expose the lies and graft of oligarchs and plutocrats, and tell the stories of people who can't speak for themselves' - You know, like we're supposed to do?
Representing diverse communities is good journalism, not DEI
‘Climate change is a really good laboratory for tackling so many of the problems we have in journalism’
Journalism has many roles. It’s time to embrace the role of community convener (yeah, I’d really love to do this too. Help me make it happen? Message me and let’s talk)
Moral injury is hurting the news industry. Here's what you can do about it
What Gen Z journalists want news leaders to know
Is yours an equitable news organisation? Because it should be
When it comes to using AI in journalism, put audience and ethics first
If you read one thing this week, make it this
Without transformative local media, our communities are vulnerable ... and being transformative means doing more than just phoning it in. We have to do better. We have to break the grip of the bad guys, the tech bros and the lazy people
It's what I'm trying to do with Hello You. I want to do it more and better. Because who the fuck else is going to do it? (If you share the ethos and mindset of Hello You and are in a position to sponsor or support what I do, get in touch. We need to talk)
Final Thought, à la Jerry Springer
How was that for you?
I hope you enjoyed the Hello You Sunday Supplement, Issue 17. If you have thoughts, questions, suggestions, whatever then leave a comment
And I’m always glad to hear from you
Once again, I’d be thrilled beyond words if you could hit Like on this, or wherever you’ve found it, or both. And my joy would be complete if you would subscribe
… and share Hello You with a friend, colleague or family member
Happy Betwixtmas
I hope you’re having the very best festive season you possible can, in whatever your circumstances might be. I’m thinking about you, and I’m glad you’re there
Take care of yourself? Take care of the people around you, and I hope that they’re taking care of you, too
