Pacific Island Times April 2019 Vol 3 No. 4 | Page 5

Brief Chat
W
hen David Greene asks young people
where they get their news, they give him
names of supposed news organizations
that he doesn’t recognize. In this age when anybody
can access WordPress or similar platforms, creating
a “news” site has become an easy hobby for many.
And for those with their own political agenda, the
internet offers a democratized platform for spread-
ing “fake news” or propaganda.
“We have to work really hard to reclaim what
news is and what the definition of that is,” said
Greene, host of NPR’s Morning Edition. “But
I think a lot of people are seeing that the media
environment has gotten so insanely crowded, that
they’re beginning to look again for those reliable
sources, and that feels like a positive course correc-
tion.”
But Greene underscored the importance of rec-
ognizing legitimate news sources. And regardless
of the shift in today’s news media, Greene believes
that the truth will always find a way to the people.
“The New York Times, the Washington Post, those
institutions are doing some of the best work right
now than they ever have. We wouldn’t know what’s
happening in Washington in this administration if
it weren’t for papers like that doing extraordinary
watchdog journalism,” he said.
Greene also hosts NPR’s morning news podcast,
“Up First,” with Steve Inskeep and Rachel Martin.
“The model that is public radio has always been
really important to our country, but it feels like it’s
more important today than ever,” said Greene, who
was KPRG’s guest at its 25th anniversary cele-
bration in February. “I travel to public radio com-
munities where newspapers have fallen apart and
journalists that’ve lost their newspaper jobs, coming
to form partnerships with public radio stations to
increase their staff.”
Greene also gave credit to Guam’s KPRG for
pushing through despite hardships within the region.
He noted that people crave for reliable sources of
information in a moment of chaos. Greene com-
mended KPRG general manager Chris Hartig for
being able to get back on the air on Saipan after
the devastating Typhoon Yutu that left the island
in shambles. “That is an enormous feat. That is
local journalism at its finest,” he said. “It’s not just
serving the community at a terrifying moment, but
airing content from NPR.”
Prior to starting his hosting career in 2012, Greene
served as a foreign correspondent based in Moscow
covering the region from Ukraine and the Baltics,
east to Siberia, and as a White House correspondent
during President George W. Bush’s second term. He
David
Greene
Reclaiming
By Johanna Salinas
journalism
“But I think a lot of people are
seeing that the media environment
has gotten so insanely crowded,
that they’re beginning to look
again for those reliable sources,
and that feels like a positive
course correction.”
is a 1998 graduate from Harvard University with a
degree in government and was the recipient of the
2011 Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize from WBUR
and Boston University for his coverage on the Arab
Spring.
Greene was the 38th speaker at the University of
Guam’s Presidential Lecture Series, where he spoke
to a crowd consisting mostly of journalism students.
Responding to an audience member’s question,
Greene spoke about an apparent shift in attitude
in the national political scene. “What might be the
significant change in Washington in the last 20-30
years is that there’s no incentive to make a deal,”
he said. “There aren’t those kinds of interactions
that might happen in a restaurant or a bar anymore;
politicians are flying home and it’s sad.”
Greene laments the loss of civility in government.
“It was more fun to cover Washington when there
was more civility and greater respect for the other
side,” he said. “As a journalist, I’m not pointing the
finger at one side or the other. I’m just noting that
Washington, D.C. is a very different place today
than it was when I first arrived as a journalist.”
The changing newspaper landscape is another
thing that Greene finds disturbing. “The number of
newspaper jobs that’ve been lost in the U.S. in the
last decade or two is just astonishing,” Greene said.
“That means that there are so many communities
where public officials aren’t being held accountable
or people aren’t learning what’s happening in their
community from stories that are told in fair and
accurate ways, but it’s more of just word of mouth
and people who have a position or an axe to grind.
It’s really scary.”
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