How a TV Show Supports Local Journalism

We have written a number of times about movies and TV shows that depict the media or the PR industry, including Flack and Young Sheldon, and how important transparency in government and freedom of Information is to our democratic society.

A new ABC show, Alaska Daily, set in the Anchorage Daily newsroom, comes at a time when good, solid journalism is more important than ever. With many politicians and others continuing to share lies and unfounded conspiracy theories, even creating the term “fake news,” the pressure on newsrooms to “get it right” is at an all-time high and imperative for consumers to know the difference between fact and opinion.

In Alaska Daily, a veteran investigative reporter, Eileen Fitzgerald, is showing young reporters how to do it right – who to ask and what to ask for.  The first episode introduces us to the reporters seeking facts about under-reported crimes against indigenous women.

It reminded me of some of real-life reporters like Bob Woodward, Dennis Wagner, Craig Harris or Morgan Loew, to name a few, particularly as the old-timers and people in power made a conscious effort against them to block the release of public records.

In the show, when a cub reporter questioned why they would go to such lengths to obtain, report on and publish public records, the response was, “It’s why local journalism matters.”

The publisher of the Daily Alaskan further supported that statement by saying his family bought the paper “because too many people are doing bad things and nobody is looking out for them.”

Our HMA media training sessions have often included this description: “Many reporters and members of the media consider themselves to be the watchdogs for society.”

While it’s just a TV show, Alaska Daily shines a light on the process, value and necessity of good journalism.