After 40 years in journalism and 25 years covering the Capitol, Hearst Connecticut Media’s Ken Dixon is still learning on the job.
Dixon joined this week’s episode of “The Municipal Voice,” a co-production of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and WNHH FM, to talk about the state of journalism, the coronavirus response, and the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement.
“Online stuff is more work,” Dixon said. “There’s a race to get it online.”
This also means that the story can evolve more than a print version. A story can be five times larger in print than the first draft that goes up online, Dixon said.
Going Viral
Stories about the new coronavirus needed to evolve rapidly like this, especially in the beginning of the pandemic.
“There was no expertise in this,” Dixon said.
Dixon noted that no one knew how bad it was going to get at the nursing homes in Connecticut, where the majority of deaths have taken place.
Overall, he praised the state for its response, saying that it’s clear more people could have died and didn’t. He credits Gov. Ned Lamont for being the “collaborative type” and surrounding himself with experts.
On the other hand, he does not completely agree with the governor’s assessment that the economy is 95 percent back.
While the governor might mean there are 95 percent of industries able to be back to work, not nearly that amount is going back to work, he said. He cited half-empty restaurants as an example.
That’s going to leave a hole in the budget that will need to be plugged in, he said. The rainy day fund can help. The rest will depend on any follow up bill that might get through the State Senate.
Local Protests
While skeptical of how much state-level reform will happen, Dixon said that he sees change already happening in this wave of the Black Lives Matter movement with more involvement from white people.
He asked white people to think more about statues of people, like Christopher Columbus, who had significant roles in colonization.
“If it’s a symbol of oppression, stick it in the basement of the Knights of Columbus museum,” he said.
That conversation is being had around Connecticut, and is being held mostly peaceably.
When asked why protests and marches that have stayed peaceful seem to be covered less by mainstream media, Dixon said that it’s not the role of a national paper.
“That’s the role of local newspapers. To get down into the community. I don’t expect the New York Times to send someone to Weston.”
Click on the video at the top of the story to watch the full interview.
