As the media searches the postelection rubble for answers, Belt founder and publisher Anne Trubek breaks down some truths about both the media and the Belt. Here’s a taste:
“To scurry about chest-beating, trying to make amends for misunderstanding the white working class of western Pennsylvania, strikes me as self-aggrandizing. And it is that sense of self-importance I think coastal media should focus upon and examine more closely, not their coverage of the Rust Belt.
“First, the national media did cover the Rust Belt during the election. Trip Gabriel at The New York Times, to name just one journalist, wrote dozens of insightful articles. There was no shortage of stories about Trump supporters out there. Perhaps the problem was not a lack of such stories but a lack of interest among readers — not the coastal media but the audience… If you click on clickbait, then you likely skip that story about economic struggle. That does not mean those stories are not out there.”
Read the entire piece here.
Let’s keep the Rust Belt well-covered, listen to the voices of those who live here, and spread the word.
