Dear Reader,
I come to you this week with my quadrennial attempt to explain how insanely meaningless the race for the White House is at this time. And to convince you to stop paying attention to it and to instead follow and share local news for the foreseeable future, all while giving to nonprofit media like the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism (givetobinj.org) instead of to some dumbass candidate.
It won’t be easy. I love all our readers, really I do, but I can’t be nice about this. If you think voters and the media should be spending more than five minutes a day discussing who might fill but one of countless public offices that will be vacant or warrant a challenge 20 months from now, then offending you is more of a priority than a concern.
Look: You’re reading someone who legitimately understands how national nightmares haunt us locally. From the way that Donald Trump’s bigoted immigration policies slither down through our school and police departments, to the declining quality of life and tax return checks under President Turdcutter, nobody’s sitting pretty from the middle class on down. Nevertheless, financially or motivationally investing in a corporatist fraud like Cory Booker or a warmongering joke like Joe Biden this early on won’t change any of that. Nor will letting spin doctors and pundits get you crazy.
Still don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at some recent headlines:
- There are the obvious ones: “The Country Needs Strong Leaders to Emerge in 2020” (Washington Monthly)
- And the hopeful ones: “GOP donors: Trump campaign lacks a strategy to win in 2020” (Politico); “2020 Democratic hopefuls embrace new meaning of reparations” (Chicago Tribune)
- Plus the ones that are basically news outlets trolling you: “Bannon predicts Trump victory in 2020, intensified political vitriol” (USA Today); “Trump unleashing digital juggernaut ahead of 2020” (The Hill)
- Let’s not forget the self-serving pundit screeds: “Dems need more DiFi, less AOC” (Fox News)
- And the articles that make me want to stick my head in a car trunk: “Elizabeth Warren, Bill Weld to discuss ‘America’s future’ at SXSW” (MassLive)
Since there is absolutely nothing you can do between now and September that will change anything at the national level (and really after that too, but I’m being nice), I’ll make you a deal. Try thinking and supporting local for the next six months, and I’ll consider keeping my feelings to myself about the individual Dems you are drooling over.
After that, I’m sure that I’ll be right there with you ogling inane cable news, at least through the New Hampshire primaries (we already have a bar in Manchester rented out). Until then, I’ll be keeping it (mostly) local, and it would be great if you, Dig readers, did the same.
CHRIS FARAONE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
A Queens, NY native who came to New England in 2004 to earn his MA in journalism at Boston University, Chris Faraone is the editor and co-publisher of DigBoston and a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. He has published several books including 99 Nights with the 99 Percent, and has written liner notes for hip-hop gods including Cypress Hill, Pete Rock, Nas, and various members of the Wu-Tang Clan.
