New business practices won’t save journalism – only a change in culture will
By Mirko Petricevic Co-ordinator, Ink-stained Wretches
Like the great cities of the world, Pride Month wasn’t built in a day.
Growing up in 1970s Canada, we didn’t fly rainbow flags to show solidarity with LGBTQ+ communities.
That was a time before decades of advocacy created a widespread – admittedly, not universal – culture of appreciation for a beleaguered minority.
Their success is a beacon for us who are striving to keep quality journalism alive: Persistence can change culture.
As populist politicians and waves of new technologies pound the life out of the fourth estate, creating a culture of appreciation for quality journalism may be our only hope.
And as Nobel laureate Maria Ressa said to an audience at the Vatican early last year, “Even at the worst of times, hope is not passive; it is active, relentless, and strategic.”
Amen to that!
As the founding co-ordinator of the grassroots advocacy group Ink-stained Wretches, I’d like to suggest we all adopt the following approaches:
Let’s stop making things worse.
Let’s stop being modest.
And let’s rally the troops.
Tracking Trust
I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve read a news story repeating how trust in the mainstream media is at an all-time low.
The author usually leaves the impression that news outlets are singularly distrusted by the public, rather than the fact they’re being battered by a wider societal trend.
As a reflex, let’s provide context by reminding folks that trust in church and state has also taken a nosedive during the past five decades.
And when citing the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2025 finding that overall trust in news was at a woeful 40 per cent, let’s also note: Trust in local news outlets and some legacy news brands may have scored 20+ points higher.
In other words, whether reporting for a news outlet or swapping gossip at the pub, let’s allow the facts to get in the way of an incomplete story.
Voicing Value
In the days when it was conventional wisdom to not get into a pissing match with someone who buys ink by the barrel (aka, publishers) my editors were reluctant to boast about newsroom staff winning professional awards.
The paper published an article about the kudos, usually on an inside page, before the story faded from public consciousness.
It seems the culture of newsroom modesty persists.
Too bad. Because behind every award is a story showing the value journalism provides for people whether they’re subscribers or not.
Affordability, for example.
Two decades ago my colleagues uncovered a financing fiasco tied to the construction of a major sports complex.
Their investigation cut $82 million (CDN) off the financing cost – saving each city household about $3,000 in today’s money.
That’s not ancient history. We’ll be paying off the debt through 2031.
The investigation won Canada’s top award for public service journalism.
Every new crop of professional awards provides the grist for sizzle reels that can show-and-tell the value of quality journalism for years to come.
So as an act of public service, dear editor, please ditch the old-fashioned modesty.
Grow the Network
In shifting my career in 2014 to what many journalists (un)affectionately call The Dark Side, the best lesson I learned was not to undervalue the power of my personal network.
That nugget helped grow a grassroots press-freedom campaign I co-ordinate into a global effort.
We recruited most of our volunteers, on five continents, through personal connections that include former newsroom colleagues; old j-school classmates; relatives, friends, neighbours and people in their networks.
Since launching Ink-stained Wretches in 2020 and the #SpotlightPressFreedom Campaign two years later, we’ve prompted hundreds of elected leaders to publicly endorse the value of professional journalism and/or recognise 3 May UN World Press Freedom Day.
How many more leaders might we reach if we mobilise our personal and professional networks, and relentlessly talk-up local news as a valuable community resource?
How might small acts by many like-minded people over a couple of decades shift our culture?
Might they help build more support for quality journalism in spite of sustained attacks by populist politicians and disruptive technologies?
It’s impossible to know.
But if we can learn anything from the relentless efforts that built Pride celebrations into a cultural phenomenon, persistence is worth a shot.
Maybe it’s high time to design a flag of our own.
About the author: Mirko Petricevic is Founder and chief ink-stigator (co-ordinator) of Ink-stained Wretches, a grassroots advocacy group working to build a culture of appreciation for quality journalism. Petricevic worked in a regional daily newsroom (1986-2014) as a photographer, reporter and copy editor before serving as director of communications and public affairs for Martin Luther University College in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. You can reach him at ink.stained.campaign@gmail.com or via LinkedIn.
