In David Carr’s Article “The Media Equation: News Erupts, and So Does a Web Debut,” he talks about this new concept of “good-for-you, brussel sprouts journalism,” which is being tried out with the Texas Tribune in that it only covers issues having to do with public policy and has a narrow focus on issues solely within Texas state government, excluding anything other than healthcare, education, immigration and various other state policies. The strongpoint of this “brussel sprout” phrase is that it can appeal to readers in that it gives the notion that this type of niche media is healthy and offers a somewhat more “pure” form of news, sifting out all other forms of media coverage that gives the Texas state government more clean cut and focused news coverage. The weakness of it is that its focus may be too narrow, with a prime example being no coverage of the Fort Hood massacre, although it happened so close to home. Readers may want to read about this in a local newspaper, and being so limited in what a newspaper can cover may prove to be detrimental in the future since readers may want to read a better-rounded and broader newspaper.
The coverage of this trend doesn’t seem to be too fair since Carr’s main focus is the Texas Tribune and he fails to offer any other media outlets that may be partaking in a similar form of news coverage. There is not enough context to the story since he uses only the Texas Tribune as his example, and gets his quotes only from those who support this new niche.
There is bias reporting in this story because the article seems to work in favor of the way the Texas Tribune is handling their coverage. Perhaps a quote from someone who hoped to read about the Fort Hood Massacre in this newspaper or who disagrees with its narrow focus would be ideal, instead of Carr saying that reporters who do not support it declined to say anything on record.