Haaretz, one of Israel’s leading newspapers known for its elitist and liberal readership, tried a bold little experiment earlier this month. It sent 31 of the country’s finest literary authors out to cover the day’s news in lieu of its usual reporting staff.

It’s no secret that the news business is in crisis, which many people say is its own doing. And they’re mostly correct. The world of journalism is a very ugly world. It is full of fact-spouting know-it-alls, who, despite their best intentions, always end up doing what they rail against. Journalists cling to the notion that there is an unbiased and external truth out there, a view that is becoming increasingly at odds with a postmodernist world. Moreover, journalists like to think of themselves somewhat as purveyors of truth, which only adds to their self-delusion and complicates matters. Journalists used to be the link between newsmakers and the masses, but that role has been diminished with the advent of television and the Internet. Now that everyone can see the facts for themselves, who needs reporters to relay information? News has become more and more just the reporter’s truth.

Which brings me back to the Jew story. The Jewish Daily Forward’s report on the experiment included this quote from Yossi Melman, a writer for Haaretz:

“It would be very difficult to replace journalists with authors and run a newspaper. We are trained; we know how to do it. For them, you know, there is a tendency to elaborate.”

None of what he says is wrong. News reporting and news writing is a craft that, like in any other profession, is best done by those who have been trained in it. There is a model, however flawed it is now, that has worked and evolved. But just because we journalists know our trade better than anyone else doesn’t mean inspiration for improvement can’t come from outside sources. A wild idea, admittedly, but perhaps news should become more thought-provoking.