Question Everything with Brian Reed

You are very brave to have the S-town conversation! Thank you for mentioning the QPR suicide prevention program. I have QPR trainer certification. People who are interested in getting the training can go to the QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) website to find out more information.

It’s a good listen.

First off, I was surprised that the only method of giving feedback to the show is through leaving a review. Most podcasts like this have an email address that listeners can write to give feedback directly (in hopes of improving the show), rather than making a public pronouncement. Since this is all there is though, I’ll go with it. I was excited about the premise for this show and I really enjoyed the first episode, which came across to me as a genuine self-reflection on the ethics of profile pieces (I loved S-town, and also felt at times, a little uncomfortable listening to it for the reasons that were discussed). Unfortunately, I’ve found the episodes since to be pretty disappointing. The show positions itself as an exercise in critical self-reflection aimed at regaining public trust, but if anything, I have found it to be merely a defense of the very kind of journalism that has eroded the trust of the American people. The Trump episode was particularly infuriating. Without descending into a political rant, I’ll say simply that I am absolutely no fan of Trump (to put it mildly). However, there is no question that the media (and not just cable news pundits) have only ever been interested in portraying him in the worst possible light. Reed begins the episode by saying his primary purpose for wanting to interview Trump is to find out what he’ll do to journalists if elected. In other words, his starting point is, “Trump is the enemy of journalists - how bad will he make it for us?” On a personal level, I understand the concern. But as a journalist who ostensibly wants to communicate with the largest swath of the American public possible, starting from a deeply biased position is not helpful, to say the least. What about asking Trump what his experience with the media has been? Why does he feel so attacked? Why does he think his own rhetoric has evolved in a more radical way over time? Does he value journalism at all at this point? Does he think it’s possible to do good journalism? These are the types of questions a good journalist asks - ones that are focused on genuinely trying to understand their subject, not the impact of their subject on them. The rest of the episode is Brian and his research assistant trying to convince a Trump supporting friend that he’s missing something - they see the truth, but he’s overlooking it. Again, not good journalism (or journalism at all?). They might have done their own research into how journalists have represented Trump since 2015 and recognized that their constant criticism is at least partly to blame for the fact that the public has become numb or unfazed by Trump’s serious actions because they can no longer decipher it among all the noise. I hope that the show reconsiders what it’s doing while on break and directs its focus toward genuine introspection and consideration of trust building with the American public.

Every episode has been fascinating and thought provoking. I hope members of the news media are listening and having these conversations among themselves. Highly recommended.