The Information founder Lessin warns about “agenda journalism”

Tech news site The Information turned five years old on Tuesday, and in a letter to readers, founder Jessica Lessin warned about the growing trend of “agenda journalism.”

Lessin writes, “A lot has changed since I argued that journalism needed a reboot five years ago. When we launched, Recode, PandoDaily and numerous other websites were vying for scoops and ‘hot takes.’ The incumbent news organizations were sleeping. And while much of the digital competition has gone away or shifted, the incumbents aren’t sleeping now.

“But we are seeing a dangerous new threat: agenda journalism. Journalists are playing to public sentiment by becoming pundits, using Twitter to celebrate—not elucidate—companies’ failures. They have forgotten that their job is to inform rather than entertain. Unchecked, this will erode trust in the media and these news organizations’ business. No one pays a news organization year after year to tell him or her things they already believe.

“At The Information, we will continue writing the stories—popular or unpopular—based on the facts.

“Beyond that, the journalist in me wants to spill all we have planned for the next five years. But Jessica the CEO is telling me to zip it and save it for those who want to join our staff.”

Read more here.