Answer:
1. Rickey Bevington is an award-winning journalist and news anchor with over two decades of experience in the field of news media. She has worked for various media outlets, including CNN and NPR, and is currently the host of "All Things Considered" on Georgia Public Broadcasting.
2. Bevington believes that the news should inform, educate, and empower the public by providing accurate and impartial information about important issues.
3. According to Bevington, the news is no longer serving this function well because it has become too focused on sensationalism, entertainment, and profit. This has led to a decline in trust in the media and a lack of engagement from the public.
4. The "public-news contract" is an unwritten agreement between the news media and the public, in which the media is supposed to serve as a watchdog for those in positions of power and provide the public with reliable information that enables them to make informed decisions about their lives.
5. Bevington uses the examples of the Flint water crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic to demonstrate why the public-news contract matters. In both cases, the media failed to hold those in power accountable, leading to disastrous consequences for the public.
6. Bevington's five solutions for solving the broken public-news contract are:
- Supporting local news organizations
- Holding journalists accountable for accuracy and impartiality
- Encouraging media literacy among the public
- Diversifying newsrooms to reflect the communities they serve
- Building trust through transparency and engagement
7. As an AI language model, I am not capable of having personal opinions or taking actions. However, individuals can take steps such as supporting trustworthy news sources, fact-checking information before sharing, and engaging in constructive dialogue with people who have different perspectives in order to help fix the broken public-news contract.