“If it Bleeds it Leads” and Good News

Having been part of the news media, I am utterly familiar with the adage “if it bleeds, it leads.” It is the raison d’être of the modern news media. It is also a very toxic, viewer and reader-driven, way of doing news. We know because we experienced it.

My husband and I ran a paper, now defunct, called Reporting San Diego. We were told for years that readers hungered for things like deep policy, and data journalism. We did that, with the occasional car crash, arrest or wildfire.

We noticed a few things very fast. First, people were interested in accidents, arrests, and fires. They were hardly interested in the city or county budget. Hot button issues were easy to drive traffic, but the actual policy was a snoozer.

Yes, people know we have a problem with housing affordability and homelessness. They hardly want to be bothered as to how they are linked. Nor do they realize that decisions made in planning commissions affect housing, and the type we get, years down the line. What if I told you that many of these boards are full of developers? Why do you think housing plans rarely include affordable housing? I do not care how many times a politician tells you they intend to solve this during a campaign, most of the planning is done behind closed doors.