Extra! Extra! We Have An Announcement

Reflector

Longview

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.6 • 577 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We are living through one of the most unpredictable periods in recent history. A time of profound, destabilizing social upheaval. A time of barely-imaginable technological advancements. A time of emerging new philosophies that will reshape the world around us (for better or for worse). And, it’s a very exciting time to be a curiosity-driven, non-ideological journalist. But there's a problem: trust in journalism—especially in journalistic institutions—is at an all-time low. We’re seeing a crisis of confidence unlike anything since the days of yellow journalism during the Industrial Revolution. In fact, recent polls show that Americans trust journalists even less than they trust Congress. When Matt Boll, Megan Phelps-Roper, and I created The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, we set out to rebuild that trust. And here on Reflector, we’ve been continuing that mission. Today, we’re here to announce that what began as a small project between Matt and me—recorded in my bedroom in small-town Illinois and Matt’s studio in Chicago—is about to evolve into something far bigger and more ambitious. For the last few months, we’ve been working behind the scenes to transform this experiment into a full-fledged independent outlet. Soon, we’ll be publishing more podcasts and investigative series, continuing to blend rigorous journalism with artful storytelling. With these new resources, we’ll be able to break more stories, dive into more topics, and speak with a wider range of voices—all while bringing clarity and context to the most consequential issues in the world. For the time being, we're taking a brief hiatus, but when we return, expect new hosts, fresh shows, and a lot more reporting. If you’re one of our paid supporters, starting today, your payments will be paused. And when we return, we’ll be sure to reach out with details on the expanded subscriber perks we’ll have on offer. Thank you to all of you who have been with us for this first chapter. Looking forward to seeing you soon in the next one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Reflector.
0:03.2	Reflector.
0:07.2	Reflector.
0:12.2	I'm Andy Mills, and this is Reflector.
0:15.8	And for today, we have an announcement.
0:18.4	But first, a bit of history.
0:27.6	The second half of the 19th century was a time of massive change. Technologies like the light bulb,
0:36.0	the combustion engine, the telegram, the refrigerator, the x-ray
0:39.4	started to reshape the way people lived. The Industrial Revolution brought about enormous shifts
0:44.7	not just in the economy, but it reordered life on this planet as we know it. There were new
0:51.2	political thoughts entering the mainstream. There was mass migration to cities,
0:55.4	the rise of the labor movement. And then, of course, there was the media.
1:00.7	Get your morning papers, morning stars, read all about it.
1:05.7	Newspapers at the time were booming. Pretty much every community had at least two local papers, and many
1:12.4	cities had more than a dozen local papers. New York City alone had over 20, and in this environment,
1:19.6	competition for readers' attention escalated. Over time, headlines became more and more sensational.
1:31.7	Stories were just chopped full of exaggerated scandals and hyperbolic accusations and bad-faith attacks.
1:38.4	And increasingly, Judge Jake's flippant's hands away from out.
1:43.0	And increasingly,
1:47.3	almost just completely fabricated stories altogether.
1:50.5	In a way, you read all about the horrible trunk murder.
1:53.5	That trunk murder is brutal, yes it is.
	...

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