I didn't claim that all journalists suck. Please try not to fall prey to black and white thinking when you're accusing someone of it.
> We need journalism.
I agree.
> let's call out errors
I agree.
> and bad work when we see it
I do and am.
> and continue to push for better journalism and new ways of researching, citing, and reporting facts
I agree again. I didn't write "all journalists suck" but since you seem to think I did, how would it be mutually exclusive with needing journalism, calling out errors etc and pushing for better journalism? That would interest me.
I know why we trust journalists. Because a number of them, though imperfect, do fantastic work reporting on the events of the world. Anyway. No big deal. I tend to see this sentiment bubbling up here, and it concerns me.
I see HN has imported the cynicism of the 2020 slashdot crowd. I'm sick and tired of this viewpoint.
Your false dichotomy is eyerolling - either we have total faith in all stories we read, with zero attention to detail and context, or we condemn all journalists as hacks, bad faith actors, and relics of the past: That knowledge is either meaningless, or easily compiled and comprehended in its raw format to the layman.
We need journalism. And in the new century where we will have stronger disinformation campaigns, better deepfakes, and the potential collapse of local news as we know it, "trust" in institutions and particular sources, based on their track record and credibility, will be all we have. Not everything is verifiable, and we as humans need to act on information we can't verify all the time.
So instead of going on about how all journalists suck, let's call out errors and bad work when we see it, and continue to push for better journalism and new ways of researching, citing, and reporting facts.