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Wantonly Treacherous

I’ve been reading Psalms lately—Psalms 25:1-6 in particular. When anxiety, uncertainty, and unrest are high, the wisdom and comfort in David’s words bless my soul.

This week has been heavy. It marked the 24th anniversary of 9/11, one of the largest attacks on American soil. More than 3,000 lives were lost, including children, and over 3,051 children lost a parent that day. I often think about life before September 11—on the 10th, I was working at a high-tech startup preparing for a visit from Cantor Fitzgerald. Then we watched the towers fall, the attack on the Pentagon, and the downed flight in Pennsylvania. Soon we learned that Cantor Fitzgerald had fallen too, with 658 of its employees perishing. America awakened to new threats. And the startup—my startup—never closed that round of financing. In essence, it was another casualty.

“O my God, in you I trust.”

Back to the present: On September 10, 2025, three students were taken to the hospital in critical condition following gunfire at Evergreen High School in Colorado. Gun violence is not new. It amazes me that the death and injury of schoolchildren—kids with their futures ahead of them—are barely covered in the news. It’s as though we’ve accepted such horrors as part of our lives.

“Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame.”

The very next day, September 11, several historically Black colleges and universities—Spelman University, Alabama State University, Hampton University, Virginia State University, Southern University A&M, and Bethune-Cookman University—went into lockdown due to threats of violence. People wanted to take their anger out on innocent students. White rage targeting Black communities is not new. White rage bringing violence to Black folk minding their business—like these college students—is also not new.

The Memphis Massacre of 1866 left 46 Black people dead and destroyed homes, churches, and schools. Later that same year, the New Orleans Massacre saw a white mob attack newly freed Black citizens, killing more than 35. In 1873, the Colfax Massacre in Louisiana claimed the lives of about 150 Black militia members who were attempting to surrender. The following year, the Vicksburg Massacre of 1874 in Mississippi killed an estimated 300 Black citizens.

The violence continued into the 20th century. The Springfield Race Riot of 1908 killed at least 15 Black residents. In 1920, the Ocoee Massacre in Florida took the lives of up to 80 Black people, while homes and churches were burned. The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 left as many as 300 Black residents dead, as thousands of White rioters looted and burned the thriving Greenwood district. Just two years later, the Rosewood Massacre of 1923 killed an estimated 150 Black residents, and the entire town was destroyed by a white mob.

“They shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.”

And when violence on September 10, 2025 also struck a college campus in Utah, members of Congress, media voices, and others pointed to the marginalized as the source. In now-deleted tweets, they stoked the raw underbelly of anger in this nation. Instead of waiting for facts, people grabbed hold of their insecurities and hate, clamoring for civil war.

Unfortunately, this too is not new. People are desperate to blame someone else for their pain. The immigrant, the stranger, the marginalized in society carry invisible targets on their backs.

“Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.”

Then, the news broke the shooter who assassinated a man on Utah’s campus—a man whose speeches proclaimed white supremacy, who said he could not trust a pilot because of his skin color, who claimed slavery was good—was killed by a White young man from a conservative Utah family. The victim who espoused the right to bear arms and dismissed gun violence as inevitable casualties, died from a single shot fired from the young man’s assault weapon. A wife and young children are left heartbroken and bereft, facing the very world this husband and father had worked so hard to wantonly paint the world with treacherous words.

“Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.”

This assassination is a tragedy. Every incident I’ve listed is a tragedy. But this one makes me think about the words I say—and the words I will leave behind in my podcasts and in each of my books. I don’t want to be wantonly treacherous. I don’t want people to dismiss my message because they lack empathy or understanding. I also don’t want to craft arcs of cynicism. My message is clear: there is too much wanton disrespect, too much treacherous loss of life, and too much excuse-seeking to blame rather than finding true answers.

“For you I wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love.”

So I pray—for mercy, for me and for this country. I pray for those who mourn, for those who have lost loved ones to violence. I never realized how fragile and special our democracy was until I began to hear calls for civil war.

Everything is fragile. Everything is at risk. I fear that we’ve all been wanton with our actions and treacherous with our words.

Why is it so hard to see truth? We must see it—even the hard truths. And I wonder: if truth had consistently found its way into the news, into broadcasts, into the halls of Congress, would there be fewer senseless tragedies? Fewer people waking up without the ones they love?

This week’s book recommendations are:

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson – Explains how systemic white backlash perpetuates racial violence,

The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone discusses the two most emotionally charged symbols relevant to Black communities, the Christian cross and the murderous lynching tree and their interconnection to the souls of Black folk.

Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi – Traces the history of racist ideas in America, showing the ideological roots of wanton treachery.

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin – Highlights the consequences of ignoring racial injustice and moral responsibility.

The Filling Station by Vanessa Miller is a historical fiction rooted in the truth of the Tulsa Massacre, and it explores themes of racial violence, the resilience of Black communities, and the complexities of faith and justice in the face of systemic oppression.

This week I am highlighting Mahogany Books, through their website and Bookshop.org.

For everyone listening, I want to encourage you to use your words. As I promised at the beginning, I have something for you: I’ve built out my YouTube channel, Write of Passage | History, Culture & Writing, with tons of writing resources to help us all use our words more effectively. You can find me at @vanessarileyauthor.

🎬 YouTube – How to Journal to Write A Book

Video:

Times Writing Prompts:

🎬 YouTube Playlist –

🎬 YouTube – Build-a-Character, Session 1

Course Title: Build-a-Character: 10 Sessions to Shape Your Story’s Heartbeat

Episode: Session 1 – The Spark: Introducing Your Protagonist

Video:

🎬 YouTube – Build-a-Character, Session 2

Course Title: Build-a-Character: 10 Sessions to Shape Your Story’s Heartbeat

Episode: Session 2 – The Heartbeat: Core Beliefs & Values

Video:

I’ve completed and recorded the other eight sessions for Building a Character. All of my paid Substack subscribers have access to these lessons now. Click the private links below.

The preorder campaign has begun, get the collector cards for characters in Fire Sword and Sea—Help me build momentum for this historical fiction. Please ask your library to carry this novel and spread the word and preorder this disruptive narrative about lady pirates in the 1600s. This saga releases January 13, 2026. The link on my website shows retailers that are in on the campaign. Get the collector cards while supplies last.

You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, VanessaRiley.com under the podcast link in the About tab.

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Thank you for listening. Hopefully, you’ll come again. This is Vanessa Riley.

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Originally posted 2025-09-18 05:58:27.

If Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, Gwen Ifill, Peter Jennings, or even Barbara Walters came back today and started doing the news, would you believe them? If you had to stop and think about your answer, you’re not alone—and that’s exactly the problem.

According to Gallup’s October 2025 report on Media Use and Evaluation, only 28 percent of Americans say they have a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of trust that a report on the news is accurate and fair. That is the lowest level Gallup has ever recorded.

In their tracking, they’ve shown a massive decline from 68 percent in the 1970s in Americans’ trust in news on television, in newspapers, or on the radio. That’s over 40 percent loss of confidence in 5 decades.

Those numbers should frighten us.

Recently, I asked a twenty-one-year-old college student where she gets her news. Her answer was funny, honest, and revealing:

“Basically, it’s kind of crazy that I’ll learn about very important things on TikTok or some other goofy social media platform before an actual news source. Then I go to an actual reputable news source to find out if it’s true or not. Shout-out to NPR. I like to tune in to that radio now. That’s my new news source because the other ones stress me out.”

I do not want to date myself, but I remember when there was a man named Walter Cronkite on the evening news. He spoke with a serious voice, and people believed that what he said had been checked and checked again. Viewers trusted him to tell them about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. They trusted him to tell them about the war in Vietnam and the first human steps on the moon.

I’m not quite old enough to have watched all of that live. Thank you, YouTube, for the things I’ve missed. Still, those recordings remind me that there was once a widespread belief that when we saw something on the news, we were seeing something true.

Of course, television news was never perfect. There were ridiculous moments, too. Geraldo Rivera once opened Al Capone’s supposed secret vault on live television, promising the possibility of buried treasure, bodies, or historical secrets. After all that anticipation, the vault contained almost nothing.

We have also spent decades wondering whether missing labor leader Jimmy Hoffa was buried beneath some stadium, driveway, or patch of concrete. Even MythBusters got involved in the search.

The news has always contained spectacle. But spectacle used to be easier to recognize.

Now, spectacle often arrives dressed in a nice suit, a sweet smile, and banter. This is called reporting.

I do not know what we are going to do. We are headed toward no longer trusting the news. I find it incredible that journalists and political insiders sometimes save damaging information for books that will be published months or years later. These revelations may involve conversations with politicians that could have changed the outcome of an election, influenced an investigation, or helped the public understand a crisis while it was actually unfolding.

But instead of reporting the information when it mattered, someone sat on it until the book release. News reporting seems to be about clicks and money—again, spectacle.

People say journalism is dead. I don’t want to think this.. But much of what is on TV is people catering to an agenda and not telling the truth.

And I am not so altruistic. Money has to be made. The station, equipment, and reporting all cost money. Frivolous lawsuits have shut down or targeted journalists.

In this world of spectacle, some pander to an audience of one person: the autocrat, the executive, the politician, the billionaire, or the power broker whom the journalist believes has the ability to grant access, influence, protection, or money.

Many news organizations have disappointed me. They’ll spend days analyzing one president’s poor debate performance while ignoring another politician’s slurred speech, confused statements, or obvious lies. They’ll hold one person to a nearly impossible standards while lowering those same standards for someone else. Right Jake?

There seems to be no floor to depravity, no ceiling to the hysteria. I still have beef with a network that swore they had some tax returns of a very powerful man, teased it all day, then when it aired, only had the first two pages, the summary pages, which shed very little detail. You knew that, Rachel. But I digress.

Who are we supposed to trust in this society?

I tell people all the time that they should journal, especially women. A journal is personal. It should be original and not filtered through an AI program. Your journal should contain your words, your observations, and what you believe is happening in the world around you.

That record will become even more important as professional truth-tellers become spectacle peddlers. I’m also not willing to pay per click for somebody’s opinion disguised as reporting. There are publications I still support. I pay for a subscription to The New York Times. I have subscriptions to all the old goodies like

https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

and Newspapers.com. Yes, there are biases in these places, but for the moment, they are anchored in truth or at least in true sources.

At the same time, I sometimes find myself watching TikTok updates from Aaron Parnas. I trust this person, who looks like an ordinary guy living next door. He and Under the Desk News seem more trustworthy than highly produced studio broadcasts.

I know how strange that sounds. I’m a fact finder. A Cronkite lover.

Yet my experience reflects the larger change in how people receive information.

According to the Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report, audiences are increasingly getting news from social media, video platforms, podcasts, and online personalities. Approximately 36 percent of respondents use Facebook for news each week, while 30 percent use YouTube, 19 percent use Instagram, 19 percent use WhatsApp, 16 percent use TikTok, and 12 percent use X.

While this is disappointing, this fragmentation creates opportunity. More voices can participate.

But fragmentation also creates danger.

Algorithms can be manipulated. Platforms can elevate certain stories and bury others. Political forces, corporations, governments, and wealthy individuals may be able to prevent audiences from seeing factual information. They can hide it. And like many major broadcasters, they don’t feel the need to prove that a source is truthful.

I do not have the answers to fix this. This essay is ringing the alarm bell.

New media sources have stepped into this gap. You can jump in too, but I expect you to present facts. I expect you to investigate competing claims. I expect you to show us when someone is lying.

I do not want journalists to “both-sides” every issue, unless it is pointing out right and wrong.

So where do we go from here?

I do not know, but maybe we approach this like I approach historical fiction.

First, look for evidence, not just assertions. Good reporting cites documents, interviews, data, recordings, or firsthand observations.

Second, compare multiple reputable outlets. When a major story is accurate, several independent news organizations will usually report the same essential facts.

Third, check the original source whenever possible. Read the court filing, scientific paper, government report, earnings statement, transcript, or complete speech. Secondary reporting can misunderstand, simplify too much, or omit important context.

Finally, look for bias. Examine the bias of the reporter and the publication, but do not stop there. Consider the broader political and financial situation. Who benefits from this version of the story? Who benefits from the lie? Who gains power if the public becomes confused, exhausted, or unable to distinguish truth from propaganda?

And then examine your own bias. Hey we are all guilty of wanting shortcuts or not watching “the news.”

We can no longer consume the news passively. Unfortunately, every citizen must become a researcher, comparing accounts, tracing claims to their sources, and preserving personal records of what we witness.

That is exhausting. It’s unfair. A functioning democracy should not require every person to become a full-time fact-checker.

But when trust disappears, verification becomes an act of survival.

Can I believe my lying eyes?

Maybe. Maybe not, not immediately.

But I can look again. I can search for evidence. I can compare sources and document what I see. And I can refuse to accept lowering standards when it comes to the news. And I can place my views where they count, on sources that tell the truth.

It’s my job, your job, to keep your eyes clear and wide open. Find the facts. Defend the truth and democracy and encourage the truth-tellers. Their jobs and our lives are on the line.

This week’s booklist focuses on truthful references:

The Death of Truth by Michiko Kakutani – Explores how misinformation, relativism, and the erosion of shared facts have undermined public trust in institutions and each other.

Calling B******t: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World by Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin D. West – A practical guide to recognizing misleading statistics, manipulated data, and deceptive arguments in everyday life.

1984 by George Orwell – A classic novel illustrating how the manipulation of language, history, and information becomes a powerful tool of authoritarian control.

If you need the truth about pirates, get Fire Sword and Sea by Vanessa Riley.

If you want to see what happens when a woman has to own up to her lies, and reckoning with the lies she’s been told, try A Deal at Dawn by Vanessa Riley.

Get these books from The Book Worm Bookstore . They have a few signed copies of Fire Sword and Sea and A Deal at Dawn.

You can also try one of my partners in the fight, bookstores large and small, who are in the trenches with me.

You can find my notes on Substack or on my website, VanessaRiley.com, under the podcast link in the About tab.

Hey. Let’s keep rising and creating together. I need you. That is the truth. Like, share, subscribe, and stay connected to Write of Passage.

Thank you for being here.

I want you to come again. This is Vanessa Riley.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit vanessariley.substack.com/subscribe