Margaret Sullivan writes:

With the country in turmoil over racial injustice, a public health crisis and devastating job losses, it should be no surprise that journalists are caught up in the tumult.

Still, the extent of that upheaval is remarkable.

Consider just a slice of what’s happened in recent days:

Numerous New York Times journalists publicly denounced their editorial page management for publishing a commentary article by a U.S. senator — headlined “Send In the Troops” — that advocated deploying the military to quell protests in American cities.

Amid the fallout, the Times announced Sunday that editorial page editor James Bennet had resigned, and Jim Dao, the deputy editorial page editor overseeing op-eds, stepped down from that position and will hold a different role in the newsroom.

Dozens of Philadelphia Inquirer journalists called in “sick and tired” to express their disgust over the “Buildings Matter, Too” headline that seemed to equate property with the loss of black lives. The paper announced Saturday that Stan Wischnowski, its senior vice president and executive editor, is resigning.

Hundreds of journalists have been attacked or harassed as they tried to do their jobs covering the protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. A photographer was permanently blinded in one eye. Others were bloodied, tear-gassed and pushed around by police.

Not to mention thousands of journalists have been laid off or had their pay deeply cut by news organizations reeling from the economic fallout of the covid-19 epidemic in the past few weeks.

It’s a mess.

But it’s the kind of mess that American journalists could come out of stronger and better if they — and the American people they serve — grapple with some difficult questions.

The core question is this: In this polarized, dangerous moment, what are journalists supposed to be?

Pose that question to most members of the public, and you might get an answer something like this: “Just tell me the bare facts. Leave your interpretation out of it. And don’t be on anyone’s side.”

That’s an appealing idea at first blush.

It’s also one that doesn’t always work, especially right now. [Continue reading…]