It’s been a rough time for journalism in America, with reporters having to deal with misinformation, attacks on their credibility, and shrinking budgets for news gathering.
A journalist speaking in Ventura County this week who’s considered to be on of the nation’s leading investigative reporters said there are a lot of distractions.
"There's just so much anxiety and tension going on in the industry right now. It's kind of hard to focus on what you're trying to work on," said James Grimaldi.
He's a senior reporter with the Wall Street Journal who's won three Pulitzer Prizes for his investigative reporting.
"I mean, I have a bit of a luxury of a good job," said Grimaldi.
He said while there are a lot of issues in the journalism world, there is a lot of interest in media organizations to do investigative reporting.
Grimaldi will speak about being an investigative reporter in the evolving media landscape at a public event at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks Wednesday.
Grimaldi talked about a big issue in the journalism world: dealing with misinformation.
"There's definitely an effort to track misinformation, and disinformation, and correct it," said Grimaldi. "On the other track, you are just trying to do good journalism that tells the story straight."
Attacks on the credibility of news organizations may be more pronounced in recent years. But, Grimaldi says it’s a longtime issue he remembers facing early in his career, decades ago.
He talks about what you can do to insure you are getting a better picture about the news you consume.
"In some ways, I think with many, or maybe most consumers of news, their media literacy is improving," said Grimaldi,
Grimaldi said you should be diverse in what you read, watch, and listen to.
"Try to consume news from a variety of sources," he said.
He said if you watch MSNBC regularly, you should watch Fox News once in a while as well, just to hear other points of view.
That mix of media sources also include social media, although Grimaldi hopes people won’t rely solely on it, and will use it to lead them to in-depth stories.
Grimaldi has worked at some of the nation’s most respected newspapers, including the Seattle Times and the Washington Post. He joined the Wall Street Journal in 2012. His most recent Pulitzer Prize came last year, for a series by the newspaper called Capital Assets. It looked at how some federal officials invested in companies even though their agencies were involved with the businesses.
James Grimaldi will speak at Cal Lutheran University Wednesday morning. It's part of a series of events sponsored by the university's Center for Lifelong Learning. Advance registration is required for the event, which is on the Thousand Oaks campus.
Cal Lutheran is the parent of KCLU Radio.
