Angela Poe Russell: One of our most important jobs is endangered — journalism

The story came from The Seattle Times. In short, the piece of journalism examined how Washington runs a center on McNeil Island for people with a history of committing sexual violence. And when they are released, the state does not track them.

So, The Seattle Times and staff reporter Rebecca Moss did that work themselves. They built a database using state and national court records and police reports to identify new crimes committed after people are released. Their work found one in four people released were arrested for new crimes – including one in seven reoffending in a serious manner.

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As concerned as I was about what was uncovered, I also couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am thankful for investigative journalism. These journalists spend weeks or months working on one topic and oftentimes, we, the public, reap the rewards as they shine a light on something we did not, but need to know.

Sometimes, this work even leads to law and policy changes.

Journalism is vital, but jobs are disappearing

As vital as this role is to our communities, it’s endangered. We are losing journalism jobs fast. According to the employment firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, we lost approximately 3,000 jobs in that industry last year — up nearly 50% from the year before.

How do we hold people in power accountable if not for journalists pulling back the curtain?

I’ll never forget my first real news job in television in Mobile, Alabama. While asking a few additional questions during an interview and doing some digging, I discovered that a man selling shirts to benefit hurricane victims through the Red Cross was actually pocketing the money for himself.

If you think about it, the work of journalists ignited some of the biggest moments in U.S. history — Watergate and Abu Ghraib for example. Locally, the same goes for outlets like KIRO NewsRadio, MyNorthwest and The Seattle Times; and we can’t forget veteran TV journalists like Susannah Frame and Chris Ingalls, whose reporting has shattered the status quo in education, healthcare, veterans affairs and beyond.

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There are things you can do to help. I discovered you can donate to a fund at The Seattle Times to support investigative stories. It’s called Times Watchdog. I’m sure other local papers have similar efforts. If you can’t donate, consider subscribing to a news outlet.

We all know our world is changing with AI and social media. And as much as people criticize the news media, we can’t forget it’s in our own best interest to protect it.

Angela Poe Russell is a local media personality and a fill-in host on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here.