Journalism in Song

When I teach Stop the Hate, a songwriting workshop through the Cleveland Maltz Museum and Roots of American Music, to address issues of injustice, bias, discrimination, or exclusion, I make clear the importance of telling the truth and relaying stories accurately.

My father, who passed away recently was a celebrated journalist in Cleveland. He was regarded as someone who reported the news honestly without bias. It was an important distinction. He held personal beliefs close and only in his retirement did we begin to see his personal feelings on the issues of the day. He felt that if you share the truth, people will understand the world more accurately and make decisions based in fact.

It was also important to him that he had the trust of those people who were subject to his reports. If they felt that he had a particular bias, they would likely be reluctant to share with him. This of course would make his job more difficult an limit his ability to tell the whole story.

I believe that many journalists today continue to believe this is important. I also believe that many are overly ambitious and are willing to compromise their journalistic integrity for more clicks, ratings, and access to some of our more corrupt politicians and business leaders. This ambition has created an environment for politicians to discredit news agencies.

We also live in a world where a very small group of people control our major news outlets. To know the truth in coming times will become a difficult process demanding a thorough vetting of news agencies. I will likely lean towards independents and small locally owned outlets. Knowing that these voices can be suppressed, we have to seek them out. Truth will not always come easily.

Songwriting in folk music has a rich history of documenting the world around us. Topographical songs are a way of telling stories. They can address issues and alert people to issues they might not have otherwise been aware of. Dylan’s Hurricane, Deportees by Woody Guthrie, Sun City by Little Steven, Fight the Power by Public Enemy. These songs all played a part in my education. They gave me a window into the lives and events others were experiencing.

A song can be colorful, filled with metaphor. They can include information on the impact these events have on people. They may also offer some form of agency for change. In my workshops the three elements of the song, are the story, impact, and agency.

It is my belief that if we are truthful in our story telling, the impact and agency will have more strength. Our song will have more meaning. We will tell important stories and if enough people hear these songs, it will be harder to suppress information. We can expose the world to injustice through song.

In our new world, it is my belief that we have a duty to tell these stories. To share the impact, and to create change. The first step in this process is honesty.