Board chair, @NCLocal nonpartisan local news hub. Former top editor News & Observer, SacBee, KPCC/LAist. Posting on journalism's role in democracy and how people can get the information they needhttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mv3l4q2xuc2gUnasked/unanswered in today's major media coverage: What are the US objectives in Iran? Are we at war? What do members of Congress say. What's the president's authority and limits? Questions asked early on, but dropped.09 Sep 2026 12:48 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3l4q2xuc2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3muu7553kfc2sWelcome to the worst hours of journalism each week, when politicians get on TV and spin things and reporters treat this as news. Cover what they're doing, not what they're saying.06 Sep 2026 14:25 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3muu7553kfc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mutxmjsxmc2sA pattern in daily journalism is that big and obvious questions stop being asked in ongoing coverage: Where is the Secretary of State? What happened to Trump's promise to end this war before he even took office? What are the US objectives? Similar with Iran war, ICE, much more. [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 Sep 2026 12:10 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mutxmjsxmc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3muorxcwhy22bTerrific reporting from @wral.bsky.social on the UNC football investigation — as the high-paid GM steps down, Bill Belicheck's son and whole program under scrutiny [contains quote post or other embedded content]04 Sep 2026 10:46 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3muorxcwhy22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mumpsv5ax22aRemember when the United States had a Congress? [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Sep 2026 15:02 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumpsv5ax22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mto74b52e22bGood accountability reporting from @nbcnews.com [contains quote post or other embedded content]22 Aug 2026 11:43 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mto74b52e22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mtepvrw2ms2bQuestions for the US leading news outlets and journalists: Is the United States at war? What are members of Conress saying and doing as the president issues threats against Iran, Oman and others? These questions were raised early and dropped. Accountability requires sticking with them.18 Aug 2026 17:17 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtepvrw2ms2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3msw2aqpjqk27I don't care why the polls were off. I care that national political journalism still doesn't know how to cover voters — and, more broadly, what's happening in people's lives and grassroots politics that shows up in votes.12 Aug 2026 21:13 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3msw2aqpjqk27https://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mse4jmaok22aOne obvious lesson of NYT primaries coverage: The paper is more dug in than ever on horse race coverage, partisan labeling, and fixation on ideological differences as dysfunction. Read the Times for its investigative journalism: it does not know how to cover the electorate or grassroots issues05 Aug 2026 18:05 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mse4jmaok22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mrugdqdwxs2gFox news is the single biggest malign force in our public discourse in the past century, partly a symptom but certainly a major cause of destroying norms around news reporting as fact-based and nonpartisan [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Jul 2026 12:18 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrugdqdwxs2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mrs5zizjnk2mMy comment after reading this: hahahahaha. Would that the NYT had reported Meta's track record on "open" approaches, and its shoddy corporate behavior in an unregulated environment toward users and the public interest, along with other tech giants. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/technology/mark-zuckerberg-meta-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1VA._ubi.p2m0vIbC2CPP&smid=nytcore-ios-share29 Jul 2026 14:44 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrs5zizjnk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mrplsj5m4c2mPlease don't eat this stuff. Admire the labels and enjoy the nostalgia. [contains quote post or other embedded content]28 Jul 2026 14:13 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrplsj5m4c2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/melaniesill.bsky.social/post/3mrphg5thpk2mWould be great if the press covering this explained the "why" these are considered war crimes. Many of us are sketchy on history knowledge, especially on norms and laws forged generations ago, and context helps [contains quote post or other embedded content]28 Jul 2026 12:54 +0000at://did:plc:eiq6esnamkguvnf3ebwbabts/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrphg5thpk2m