Do Young People Value News?; More Problems Thanks to Boeing–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: April 4, 2024

Indy Digest: April 4, 2024

I’ve been in journalism long enough that younger people look at me like a three-headed alien when I tell them what things were like when I started out in this business.

Before the internet was a common thing, reporters used to do research by going to libraries and look at clip files. Librarians would go through each day’s newspapers, cut out various stories, and put them in file folders arranged by topic.

I am sure I did the same back in the day when older journalists told me about things like hot type.

Anyway, I am starting to wonder what contemporary journalism staple young reporters will be telling the following generation about in a few decades. Or even if there will be a following generation of journalists.

I’m currently in Reno. Earlier today, I attended a discussion hosted by the University of Nevada, Reno, Reynolds School of Journalism regarding the future of local news. One of the attendees was the editor of The Nevada Sagebrush, and she mentioned a recent effort by student media at the university to enact a student-credit fee to support those media sources. Nevada Today, the university’s communications arm, wrote on March 11:

Well, the results of the election are in, and … UNR students decided $20 per semester is too much to pay to support student media. More than 58 percent of the voters said no to the fee.

In an editorial before the election, Sagebrush editor Emerson Drewes explained why students needed to vote for the fee—saying that the very existence of the student newspaper was at stake, because advertising and other support are way down since the pandemic.

“I write this not as a ‘woe is me’ case study, but rather a warning for the students of UNR,” Drewes wrote. “Currently, students are unable to imagine a life without student media, but in two years, they might have to.”

If college students don’t understand the importance of student media, what future does journalism have in the United States? The answer to that question terrifies me.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Another effect of the mess that is Boeing these days: Fewer airplane flights. The Associated Press reports: “United Airlines is asking its pilots to take time off in May because of delays in receiving new planes that the airline ordered from Boeing, which is struggling with production due to manufacturing problems. A United spokesperson said … the offer is voluntary. ‘Due to the recent delays in Boeing deliveries, our forecasted (flight hours) have been reduced and we are offering our pilots voluntary programs for the month of May to reduce excess staffing,’ spokesperson Leslie Scott said. In a note to pilots obtained by The Associated Press, United said it expects to make similar requests during the summer and possibly into the fall. … United doesn’t expect to get all the Boeing jetliners it ordered and was due to receive this year or next year. A month ago, United said it was contractually due 191 planes this year and 127 next year but expects to receive only 88 this year and 64 in 2025.”

• ProPublica explains how some congressional-redistricting maps will remain in place during the next election—even though courts have ruled that they are discriminatory: “With the Republicans holding just a two-vote majority in the House of Representatives, voters will go to the polls in November in at least two congressional districts that have been challenged as discriminatory against people of color. After months of delays and appeals, courts have decided in the last two weeks that the maps in South Carolina and Florida will stand, giving Republican incumbents an advantage. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take action on South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District. In January 2023, a three-judge federal panel had declared it an illegal racial gerrymander that must be redrawn before another election was held. In Florida, the congressional map has faced long-running discrimination lawsuits in both state and federal courts, with one state judge ruling that a district near Jacksonville disadvantaged voters of color. A higher court overturned that judgment, but an appeal from voting rights and civil rights groups is still pending before the state Supreme Court, which has said it could be months before it rules.”

• Meanwhile, Louisiana’s governor is threatening to revoke the scholarships of student athletes who aren’t present for the national anthem … you know, that song about the “land of the free” and whatnot. Yahoo! Sports explains: “The pregame logistics of LSU’s Elite Eight loss to Iowa have turned into a controversy that reached the governor’s mansion on Tuesday. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry posted a tweet the morning after LSU’s 94-87 loss to Iowa calling for the Louisiana Board of Regents to create a policy mandating that student-athletes be present for a pregame national anthem or risk losing their scholarships. … The LSU players not being on the court wasn’t a protest of any sort, as LSU head coach Kim Mulkey explained after the game. The coach of the defending champions told reporters that the team was following its usual pregame routine. … The governor’s request was met with overall befuddlement from LSU and its administrators.”

• A new study shows that LGBTQ+ Americans are twice as likely to be discriminated against or treated unfairly at doctor’s offices. CNN reports: “A third of LGBT adults say that a doctor or another health care provider has treated them unfairly or with disrespect, compared with about 15% of adults who don’t identify as LGBT, according to the survey. LGBT adults were also more than twice as likely to experience other negative interactions during recent health care visits, including providers making assumptions about them (40%), suggesting personal blame for a health problem (32%) and ignoring a request or question (32%). Less than 20% of adults who do not identify as LGBT say they have experienced any of these same interactions. Consequences resulting from these negative health care experiences are also more than twice as common among LGBT adults. About a quarter of LGBT adults say they’ve had a recent health care experience that caused their health to get worse, compared with less than 10% of other adults, the survey found. And more than a third of LGBT adults have said they’ve become less likely to seek health care or have switched providers, compared to about 15% of other adults.”

• Meanwhile, closer to home, a certain large festival producer has taken umbrage with a billboard. The Press-Enterprise explains: “A billboard near the Coachella festival advertising free sexually transmitted disease testing should be removed, concert organizers said—but the group behind it says the message is staying put. ‘Catch more than vibes?’ the billboard reads. Beneath it is a bubble listing the freestdcheck.org website and an photo of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which is held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio. The ad was paid for by the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a global nonprofit organization that provides HIV/AIDS medical care and other services. It went up beside the westbound 10 Freeway on Tuesday, March 26, according to a foundation news release. By Thursday, March 28, the foundation had been asked to take it down.”

• Today’s recall news involves … candy! CBS News says: “A Minnesota candy company is recalling a product sold nationwide because the boxes containing the treats are mislabeled and don’t list nuts as an ingredient, posing a serious health risk to those with allergies. Abdallah Candies is recalling 8-ounce boxes of ‘sea salt almond alligators’ with a chocolate covered cherries label and the code 0315 on the bottom, the Apple Valley, Minn.-based maker of chocolate, caramels and candy said Tuesday in a notice posted by the Food and Drug Administration. ‘People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to almonds run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products,’ the recall states.” 

• And … a whole lot of garment steamers! The Associated Press reports: “About 2 million Black & Decker-branded clothing steamers are now under recall after consumers reported dozens of burn injuries that resulted from hot water spewing out of the devices. Empower Brands is significantly expanding a previously announced recall of Black & Decker Model HGS011 Easy Garment Steamers, according to a notice posted Thursday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Nearly 520,000 of these steamers were recalled back in November 2022. At the time, a repair remedy was offered—but there have been continued reports of burn injuries involving the repaired units since, the CPSC said. Empower Brands is now recalling another 1.6 million steamers to cover all units of the model, including those that were previously repaired, and offering full refunds instead. The recalled steamers can spray or leak out hot water during use, posing burn hazards, the product-safety commission said.”

• And finally … you’ve probably heard of the appalling murder of seven World Central Kitchen workers by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Tuesday. Here’s a Time magazine piece regarding the tragedy. Key quote: “Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War in October, at least 196 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, according to the U.S.-funded Aid Worker Security Database. Most of those killed worked for UNRWA, the U.N.-run aid agency for Palestinian refugees. Aid groups have repeatedly called for a humanitarian ceasefire in response.” The piece includes bios of the seven workers who were killed. Go read about them. Honor their memory.

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