Attorneys are starting to be the new crop of journalists
Why 22 past presidents were able to offer expertise that Trump will never have
The following post is part of my former Substack publication “One Black Woman’s Vote” that is now in “I Do See Color.” To see more OBWV posts from 2026, click here. For 2025 OBWV posts, click here. For 2021-2024 OBWV posts, click here. New OBWV posts will be published by the second Saturday of each month.
“[Mayor Brandon] Johnson gathered with political allies and supporters last weekend, and made a big deal of his plans to hold accountable any federal agents who violate the law in the course of immigration enforcement actions, whether during ‘Operation Midway Blitz’ last fall, or anytime in the future.”
I read this sentence at least three times and cringed. It wasn’t coming from a blog. It wasn’t coming from an op-ed. It wasn’t a random clickbait video caption. This line came from a broadcast news report from a local, well-known publication.
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And I couldn’t wrap my mind around a nine-year political reporter being this blasé about this topic, specifically after federal agents arrested more than 1,600 people in Chicago, leading to inhumane conditions and blatant racial profiling. Then, when our mayor pointed out how (masked) federal agents should be held accountable for this behavior, it was somehow shrugged off as “made a big deal.”
As a prior web editor and staff writer for one newspaper, a Digital News Editor and breaking news programmer for a second, and a beat writer for two more (online news and broadcasting), I was both disappointed and dumbfounded that that phrase passed the first draft and made it to the public. I immediately pictured at least four editors who would’ve sent that draft back to me to fix or changed it on their own.
If it was an op-ed, sure, go for it. Be offensive and hide behind your views and not that of your employer. Blog? Same deal. But if I click on a news report, I expect to read news.
For quite some time, I’ve been hearing the complaints about mainstream media and (struggled to) defend them. However, this was one of those times when I was left thinking, “If a mayor of the third largest city in the United States is seeing masked, armed men drag off innocent immigrants from their homes, jobs and even a performative helicopter commercial that led to an entire building of now-unhoused people, is that not a valid time to respond — and make ‘a big deal of his plans’ to stop it?”
Lynn Jones Turpin, a reporter for the Jacksonville Free Press, caught all kinds of hell for praising Jaguars coach Liam Coen at a Jags news conference. This got so much attention that sports podcasts like “The Pivot Podcast” and “All the Smoke” weighed in to defend her after the pile-on. I wish half that level of anger went to news reporters being dismissive of unnecessary and cruel arrests and basically an eye roll from a Chicago mayor who cares.
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Democracy Docket provides the legal news and political news I need
At this point, my go-to for news is attorneys, primarily Rep. Jasmine Crockett followed by Democracy Docket, a platform founded in 2020 that is 50% news and interviews and 50% legal updates and simplifying lawsuits.
Recommended Read: “Four tips to stay sane and at peace during a lawsuit ~ Hiring an attorney doesn't immediately make a lawsuit stress-free, but there are legal perks”
While there are other political podcasts and shows to choose from, at least two are still complaining about former Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg not retiring and why it took former President Barack H. Obama — who had a laundry list of nice things to say about Kamala Harris as California’s Attorney General — “too long” to endorse her. Never mind that he didn’t take weeks or months. It was five days. Then comes the endless babbling about former President Joe Biden over one debate as if he didn’t do a full, well-spoken speech with the NAACP shortly after.
Flip a calendar, folks. It’s 2026. The presidential election is over a year old. Start talking about 2026 midterms and the future of elections in 2028.
Why are attorneys having to pull the weight of today’s journalists?
I’ve been thinking about this throughout all of 2025 and have a final opinion in 2026.