What do journalists say about journalism as a high-impact career?

Abstract

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “The Case for Reparations” seemed to have a significant impact on the national debate about race. Photo credit: Sean Carter Photography. I interviewed three journalists who have written articles that promote important causes: Dylan Matthews (for example, on a guaranteed basic income); Derek Thompson (for example, on effective giving); and Shaun Raviv (for example, on open borders). Key takeaways: The impact of journalism is difficult to quantify as it tends to take the form of having an incremental shift in public perception of an issue, though it clearly sometimes has major impact.