Yesterday’s Denver Post led off with a 4,300-word expose of shady land dealings in Adams County. A county commissioner allegedly scored a sweetheart deal in when she some sold real estate to the county in 2004.
The story was thorough, professional journalism. Two veteran reporters must have spent the better part of a week on it. But I doubt if even 5 percent of readers got past the jump to page A10.
Lot of people say traditional media will disappear. It’s irrelevant, it can’t make money, and they once wrote something bad about my uncle. The Rocky went away and we’re okay, right?
What if ALL the real journalists go away? Who will do difficult stories like this one? The blogger pecking on a notebook down at Starbucks? And with no cops on the beat, how will all the self-dealing public officials react? They’ll probably throw a party.
The rest of the Sunday Post included the usual crush of colorful ads, which in my house go straight to the recycle bin. But I’m glad they’re there, because it means somebody is paying for the product. And I noticed a shoe sale that I might check out.
The Perspective section of the paper section included not one but two appeals for public help in saving traditional media. An editor blasted a proposal at the University of Colorado to discontinue its journalism program. A columnist riffed on the decline of society when all public discourse happens on Facebook and Twitter.
Let me add a third voice. Please read the paper. At least buy the shoes.