What Ayn Rand taught me about civic journalism

A large portion of Ayn Rand’s seminal book, The Fountainhead, focuses on a newspaper publisher who increases readership through several successful, albeit questionable, methods:

1) Focusing on sensationalist and scandal-driven journalism
2) Creating news by having reporters commit crimes
3) Launches in-depth “crusades” against certain ills of the city

Through his efforts, the newspaper publisher goes from a homeless street tough to one of the richest and most successful men in New York City.

Of course, The Fountainhead is a work of fiction by a highly controversial author who commands barely an iota of respect in the academic or philosophical world. But when we were discussing the role of civic journalism in modern journalism by looking at what the Dayton Daily News did, it was impossible to analyze the topic without think of Rand’s newspaper publisher character. While the second option doesn’t seem to be a way to attract readership anymore, the first and third continue to play a huge role in determining placement and focus in the modern-day newspaper.

If we take the example of the Dayton Daily News started to curb youth violence, we see the two aforementioned elements use to create increased interest, and therefore increased readership, in the newspaper. First, the editors of the paper found a tangible and real problem propagating throughout the community. The statistics don’t lie – scores of youths were being brutally murdered by other youths, something that is without question beyond the pale of conventional wisdom.

The paper could have chosen the option of reporting these incidents one by one in a fairly conventional writing style, etching out a common lede, the same police sources and possibly a description of the incident. Although this type of story is without question a newsworthy event, it might not garner the interest of the reader, especially if they are far removed from the trend.

Instead, the paper decided to magnify and intensify coverage of youth violence as a systemic problem in the community, rather than dozens of isolated incidents. By encompassing violent and shocking writing into a more extensive project, the paper forced its readership to take notice of the problem. It could be argued that the newspaper was using a form of alarmist, and perhaps even sensational, methods to shine a light at the problem. But there is little doubt that increasing the coverage and intensity of a certain issue increases the amount of attention paid to it by a community.

But still, it makes me wonder whether a newspaper would decide to engage in a civic journalism project if the issue didn’t involve sensational aspects. Would we see non-stop coverage and convergence on an issue as dry as, say, zoning malfeasance or street sign repair? Probably not.

Even though these issues likely affect more people than brutal murders on behalf of teenagers, it involves minutia and complicated aspects that the public might not be able to comprehend. Moreover, unlike the Dayton project, it’s unlikely a majority of the public would be able to contribute to this project, due to either a lack of institutional knowledge or interest. Which proves that Dayton’s example of civic journalism project can be enormously fruitful for a newspaper, and ultimately, a community.