Editorial: If you want unity, stop relying on the algorithm

By Brandi Makuski

More than 700 people turned out in front of the Stevens Point Post Office on April 5 for a National Day of Action known as the “Hands Off” protest — part of a larger movement spearheaded by anti-Trump resistance — pushing back against what organizers describe as threats to Medicare, Social Security, the Department of Education and other public programs.

Attendees protested against President Donald Trump and the wide berth of influence Elon Musk has on the federal government. Our staff shares some of the concerns about what’s happening in our nation.

Those concerns could have been the topic of this week’s editorial.

But it’s not. And, unfortunately, we don’t have any photos of the event. For all the passion and turnout, one thing was noticeably absent from the protest: the press.

Despite the scope of the demonstration and its national significance, local media outlets weren’t notified of the event. The protest, organized locally by the Portage County Democratic Party, went unreported — not because of media bias or lack of interest, but because organizers never reached out.

Our staff only learned about the protest afterward, through conversations in the community — the same place our staff spends the majority of its time. Unlike many other newsrooms in our region, we don’t rely on Facebook or Twitter feeds to tell us what’s happening. This is why most of our content is exclusive to the Metro Wire.

We gather news by being present, by talking with people, and by walking into spaces where stories are unfolding. For the record, we weren’t out in the community on Saturday morning because our staff was taking ongoing professional development training, although we were on call for emergencies.

And that’s also the problem.

When political parties or advocacy groups rely solely on social media to publicize their events, they exclude everyone who isn’t in the favored lane of the algorithm — and the 70 percent of Portage Co. who isn’t on social media daily, or at all. They bypass traditional news outlets — the ones still bound by ethics, accountability, and a commitment to serve the entire public — in favor of curated bubbles and digital echo chambers.

This isn’t just a local misstep. It’s a national trend, and it’s contributing to the very division so many claim to be fighting against.

The Portage County Democratic Party’s failure to notify the press may seem small in the grand scheme of things, but it speaks volumes. It reflects a broader mistrust of the media — or worse, a disregard for the role journalism plays in civic engagement. It’s one reason why many Americans remain unaware of the very movements they’re supposedly a part of.

You can’t build unity if your messaging strategy only reaches your own choir.

If organizers want to be heard, if they want exposure, they need to stop treating social media as the only channel that matters. If parties want to bridge divides, they need to recognize that traditional journalism still plays a vital role in telling the full story — not just the filtered one.

The press is still here. We just can’t cover a planned event that we’re not informed about; and we can’t spend our days pursuing Facebook looking for event postings we may not see until two or three days later, if at all.