The Pear Tree Project recorded its third podcast this past Saturday, which will air March 18, 2025. More details to follow.
Below are a few excerpts from the show:
She Said ~ Traditional forms of journalism are disappearing and being supplanted by social media platforms and online publications.
As of this month, The Star Ledger, in business since 1807, has ceased its print publication, but will remain an online presence. The Jersey Journal, which has been in business for 157 years, will stop its publication altogether.
These newspapers have comforted, informed, supported and weathered many storms alongside its readers. However, change has come and with it a push to embrace news bites and technology as reliable news sources.
This trend toward these platforms, as sources of information, is a departure from the traditional methodologies and leaves plenty of room for misinformation and misrepresentation of facts.
Today, the most utilized social media platform has decided to get rid of fact checkers. The replacement, community notes – not editorial teams.
He Said ~ I worked for a chain of 22 weekly newspapers throughout Northern and Central New Jersey. We covered everything from the mundane police blotter to (almost) knock-down-drag-out fights in local council and b.o.e. meetings.
I began as a staff writer and had an editor working in the office, beside me. Then after he completed review, the stories went to our regional editor, then to the editor-in-chief, and finally to the publishers.
The fact-checking and balances were endless, (rightfully so). These were the days when if you quoted the mayor of a town, you would have to submit the verbiage and then call the office to confirm it was 100% accurate.
It was called responsible journalism – this included the principles of truthfulness, fact-based communications, objectivity, impartiality, and respect for others.
Working with the newspaper was a deeply rewarding experience, (I mean certainly not financially, it was never a particularly well paying job).
That aside – it truly was one of my favorite trades. There was a sense of camaraderie in the office trenches, a unification of purpose, and a commitment to the story.
As a staff writer and then an editor, the responsibility regarding the accuracy of information – (or using today’s vernacular, DATA) – was obvious.
It was never taken for granted that anything beyond complete attention to detail and checking, double-checking and triple-checking was the sole reason we were in existence as a publication.
And if there was a mistake – yes these slipped through – then we corrected them with diligence and humility.
The decline in traditional advertising coupled with the advent of digital media, increased competition and rendered newspapers null and void.
She Said ~ When it comes down to reliable and ethical news reporting, social platforms should not be the go to source. Absent from this stream of consciousness is fact checking, adversarial commentary, investigative journalism and safety guards against biased reporting.
None of this information is hidden, it’s simply embedded in an ever changing, lengthy policy write up that none of us really take the time to read.
In short, this places the responsibility on us, to review the policies of these spaces, before choosing to engage, create and share.
He Said ~ I miss the Sunday morning newspaper, especially the comics — we used to put Silly Putty on them. Do you remember this bizarre, stretchy, moldable, substance? It was made from silicone and boric acid, and no one was concerned we were playing with it, not washing our hands and putting it in our mouths. The combination of the putty and the newspaper print was delicious.
All kidding aside, it was a wonderful way to start your Sunday. My brother and I were in awe when we peeled off the Silly Putty to reveal Snoopy and Woodstock eating a bowl full of bones, perched atop his red dog house. The substance reflected what was on the page, and we trusted it. We knew, even as children, there was room for interpretation, but the foundation was poured with the intent of purity.
My dad would read his newspapers cover-to-cover. This he did until he couldn’t. At one point, I believe my dad read 5-to-6 newspapers a day.
He was knowledgeable.
He never once logged onto the internet or used a GPS.
Did You Know? The Hartford Courant is the longest-running newspaper in the United States, having been in publication since 1764. The Wiener Zeitung in Vienna, Austria is the world’s oldest national newspaper, beginning publication in 1703.