What if I don’t agree with you?

What if I don’t agree with you?
by Rachel Hubbard

I often think of a conversation I had a few years ago with a high school student. We started talking about how she got information as a civically engaged student with aspirations to work for an Oklahoma nonprofit. She told me she only consumed information created by people she perceived to be like her and people with whom she agreed.

So, I asked her this question.

Suppose there was a government meeting about an important policy issue that would affect your future nonprofit. Only one person was able to go to document what happened, and you are unable to attend the meeting. The person available is a journalist and does not share your beliefs and will not report from your perspective. Do you think it would be better to have them in the room or go without the information?

She looked at me for a few minutes and said she didn’t know. She hadn’t ever considered that it might be important to just have someone in the room to witness what was happening. She needed to think about whether the perspective, life experience and beliefs of the person in the room would make their reporting worthless for her.

Since 2005, the state has lost 75 percent of its journalism capacity because of consolidation, corporate buyouts and market changes. Today, 500 fewer reporters are documenting what happens in Oklahoma – the good and the bad. Based on an informal census and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we estimate roughly 63,000 fewer stories about the state are reported every single year.

Some of you may be thinking it’s a good thing to have fewer journalists. It’s not exactly a glamorous profession in 2025. However, the work, regardless of perspective, is part of our public technology infrastructure regardless of their reporting perspective.

Numerous studies show the loss of local news has insidious effects on our community. Decreased or eliminated access to local news results in lower voter turnout and civic participation on all levels. People without access to local news have fewer cultural connections to local artists, nonprofits and events. Companies without strong local media are less attractive to new residents and businesses, who see a lack of connectedness and information infrastructure. People who live in news deserts are also more likely to live in food deserts and internet deserts and to have worse health outcomes.

There are no easy fixes, but numerous for-profit and nonprofit journalism outlets in the city are trying to find a solution. As Rotarians, are there ways we can help create a shared story about Oklahoma City that we can all celebrate? Are there ways we can help get information to our neighbors to help them become civically engaged? What are the new models we can build together?