Author: Tom Doerr, President of the Press Club of Southwest Florida, Adjunct Professor of Journalism, Florida Gulf Coast University
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“The loneliest people are often those who see things as they are.” —Source unknown The danger to democracy doesn’t start with lies. It begins when people know something is false and accept it anyway. This difference matters both morally and psychologically. This essay expands on last week’s column about the challenge of finding and accepting the truth. When Knowing Becomes Complicity In psychology and ethics, moral…
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People don’t want the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.—Friedrich Nietzsche By the end of 2025, journalists will no longer need convincing that truth is under attack. What we still need to understand, honestly and without arrogance, is why truth itself has become so difficult for people to accept, even when the evidence is abundant and the…
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By the time you read this commentary, you will have attended the Press Club’s Newsmaker luncheon with Francis Rooney, or you’ll read David Silverberg’s account in next week’s edition of SCOOP. My deadline for this edition of SCOOP was yesterday, as our luncheon was beginning, which is why you’ll have to wait to read what…
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“I’m just trying to go through life without looking stupid. It’s not working out too well.” –Brian Regan Can you relate? Every few years, a headline circulates through our national conversation, asking whether Americans are “getting dumber.” Recently, New York magazine revisited that concern in an essay titled “Are We Getting Stupider?” and reached a quietly radical conclusion: We…
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There is no gentle way to say this: The America that today’s young journalists will cover is not the America my generation inherited. It is more divided, more suspicious, more anxious, and more openly hostile to truth. We once thought the difficult part of journalism was getting the story. Today, the hard part is convincing…
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“When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” That old truth has never felt more urgent than in this moment, when the President of the United States dismisses a reporter with the words “Quiet, piggy,” and then, in a separate context, shrugs off one of the most brazen journalist murders of the modern era.…
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The recently released 20,000 Jeffrey Epstein emails make one thing painfully clear: Some of the biggest names in media weren’t watchdogs. They were enablers. New York Times journalist Shaun McCreech is examining emails, and a troubling pattern emerges. Journalists, editors, publishers, and publicists entrusted with public trust helped a convicted predator plan his return to respectability. They…
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“There are no permanent majorities.” That line, echoing after last week’s election results, serves as more than just political commentary. It’s a moral reminder, especially for journalists, of the importance of our work. When Both Sides Fail the People If the recent government shutdown proved anything, it’s that dysfunction knows no party. It takes both…
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The Press Club of Southwest Florida is honored to welcome Dave Lougee, recently retired President and CEO of TEGNA Inc., as the featured newsmaker at the Club’s November 18 luncheon at the Hilton Naples. Click here for details about the event, including links to pre-purchase tickets or reserve a seat and pay at the door. Lougee has requested that his appearance…