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New on Big If True
- As a health crisis morphs into an economic one, more Americans are expected to go into debt and have trouble paying it off. Industry observers predict that this will lead to a rise in illegal, predatory debt collection practices and scams. Civil courts across the country, which debt collectors increasingly rely on, are expecting a surge of debt collection lawsuits. These lawsuits already dominate some civil courts, like Utah’s, where debt collection lawsuits outnumber divorces, evictions and protective order cases combined.
- Jacob Threadgill wrote about how access to public information has suffered during the pandemic. According to policy changes compiled by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, at least 17 states and the District of Columbia suspended open records laws or removed or extended deadlines to respond. Journalists have been denied access to crucial public health information, including details on covid-19 outbreaks.
We have several stories in the works that are focused on how low-income people are being impacted by economic challenges brought on by covid-19. These stories are part of a shift away from factchecking and toward in-depth reporting at Big If True.
Misinformation continues to chip away at our democracy and bolster political and social polarization. These problems are stark and not going away. However, Big If True simply doesn’t have enough manpower to factcheck at the level covid-19 calls for. Frankly, no one does.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to best serve our readers and listeners during this time. Our reader survey earlier this year showed that y’all want to see more in-depth and investigative reporting. That’s the kind of journalism I most love to do and also what I feel is most needed at this moment.
Our podcast, Hard Reset, will continue to address misinformation, factchecking and media literacy (the tools you need to make sense of the news). We’ll also have more episodes that bring in reporting, like this one on news burnout.
If you get something out of our work, please consider giving a tax-deductible donation to Big If True. Your support is what keeps us going.
And I’m all ears if you have feedback, questions or tips: bryant@bigiftrue.org and 405-990-0988.
Thank you,
Mollie Bryant
