Stop asking, ‘Why is this news?’

I’m writing today to officially retire the phrase: “Why is this news?”

It pops up now and again in my favourite smorgasbord of hate and ignorance, the comments section, and it’s simply no longer a valid question.

My former colleague and good friend Trevor Robb with Postmedia put it best in a tweet: “‘Why is the news so negative?’ Here I shared a fun story for you. ‘Why is this news?’”

Back when newspapers were known as the gatekeepers, sometimes responsible as the sole source of information for the public, this would have been a valid question. Now, however, it does not hold water.

It may not seem important, it may not seem significant to you, but are you really going to tell me you’d rather have less information than more? You can literally get the latest news on how Beyonce is rumoured to cut her hair.

The internet isn’t running out of space any time soon, so maybe a story isn’t a breaking investigative report, but news is history as it unfolds and I can’t believe we have to remind people of this. But, we are human and may not always hit the mark.

Newspapers are social infrastructure and it’s a responsibility any reporter worth their salt takes seriously, but we are a private businesses (sans CBC of course) and succumb to the rules of supply and demand. The demand for top-notch, quality reporting is always high, yet a majority of people are now used to getting all their news for free. It’s simply unsustainable.

Not to complain too much (my boss is reading), but in all the news markets I’ve worked in across B.C. and Alberta, I can’t count how many times I’ve been tasked with being in two places at once.

You get creative, and that’s the job, but the squeeze is coming from both sides.

I can’t help but be baffled at the incensed commenters who demand investigative reports, when the numbers, who are known for not lying, show that many of you are not supporting or paying for your local news.

Another popular phrase I hear that people need to think through is, “I get my news on the Internet,” or Reddit and Twitter.

Online is undoubtedly the prominent format and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, but I can’t help but roll my eyes at the phrase because it ignores the infrastructure I was mentioning earlier — boots-on-theground reporters.

People seem to be confusing aggregation of news with news gathering, which is somewhat disturbing or, at the very least, disappointing.

It’s incredibly important to have actual people sitting at city council meetings, zoning hearings and court.

I couldn’t put it better than The Wire creator and Baltimore Sun veteran reporter David Simon did in 2009.

“The day I run into a Huffington Post reporter at a Baltimore zoning board hearing is the day I will be confident that we have reached some sort of equilibrium,” Simon said at a U.S. Senate hearing on the future of journalism.

We are in the unique position of being a business and simultaneously supporting the community and keeping policy makers in check.

Again, we are a business, so when you ask, “Why is this news?” the answer is because trained professionals with experience felt it was important enough to put on the pages of their product.

You don’t have to agree with the decision, but if one person bites their tongue before they comment “slow news day?” I will consider this column a success.

*** Pods and Ends: This week I’m shouting out Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. Episodes are released somewhat rarely, as he charges nominal fees for the top-quality content, but puts out the odd free show.

His series on the First World War is incredibly comprehensive and is almost 20 hours of content available for free. Good for long car trips and an engaging way to dive into history.

His latest episode, Painfotainment,explores case studies on torture and pain throughout history. (Fascinating but graphic stuff in this particular episode, be warned).

Dale Boyd is a reporter at the Penticton Herald.